The Last Case
by Touchstone
Summary: Sequel to Redemption. OE! Two generations must scramble to solve one mystery that has shattered the lives of many- and Olivia and Elliot struggle through a difficult time to solve one last case. COMPLETE! Please R&R! Thanks
1. Chapter 1

**This is the sequel to 'Redemption' please read it first.**

A/N: Sorry it took so long to get this up! I had the first five pages written and then my laptop crashed! So I had to rewrite all of it on my desktop and that took a while. Anyways, there are lots of big questions once again in this chapter, but this fic will take a very long time to finally get pulled together. Enjoy…

Disclaimer: They still aren't mine.

Oh yes… we are going to say that Olivia and Elliot are in their forties for this fic, I know that's a little off, but oh well.

The New York winter was particularly bad that year, snow drifts piled high on the sidewalks and a biting wind blew hard through the streets. The young woman stepped carefully around an icy patch and shifted the book bag on her shoulder. She was tall and slender with chestnut hair cut just above her shoulders and a frame that curved in all the right places. The few people out on the streets gave her an extra glance, and one man even sauntered into her path. She rolled her eyes and kept walking, pulling out her badge to get him to move out of the way. He looked after her in a drunken desire but then continued on. As she approached her apartment building she noticed a man standing with his back up against the stair railing. She tensed slightly, but then recognized him.

"Detective Winter O'Connor. What brings you to my porch this evening?" she questioned, gracefully arching her eyebrows.

"What else, Riley Justice?" Winter said, walking up to her and gently relieving her of her bag. "What else than you?"

"That's really flattering Winter, but what's the real reason?" Riley asked, shaking her head at the latest of his endless compliments to her.

He laughed and then gave her a smile that would have made most women pass out. Riley was not, however, most women, and simply gazed back seriously. "A guy broadsided me just a couple blocks from here. My car got towed and I left my keys in the dash."

"Good job." Riley said, trotting up the steps. "Your beautiful silver Mercedes… what a shame."

"Tell me about it." sighed Winter, walking up beside her. The doorman smiled out at Riley and swung the door open to let them in.

"Ms. Stabler who's the new boyfriend?" he asked, grinning at the beautiful girl.

"He's not my boyfriend, he worked with my father." Riley responded before Winter could open his mouth. The doorman looked suspiciously at her and had to laugh at her usual briskness.

Riley started up the steps when Winter suddenly caught her arm, escorting her gently up the stairs. "Winter, I don't need all the chivalry, I can really walk by myself." Riley said in mock irritation.

"Yes you do." He replied with a wide grin. They walked into her spacious living room and Riley tossed her bag and jacket on the floor. Winter shook his head with amusement and picked them up, carefully hanging them on the rack. He glanced at the books sticking up through her bag and examined them. "Anatomy, Business, Criminal Law, English… keeping yourself busy aren't you? Night school and a part time officer." he said, glancing over at her.

"That's right. Those are my only classes right now though. I don't have time for anymore." Riley answered as he stepped back out into the living room. She slowly sank down onto an armchair, pulling her knees up to her chest. Winter sat on the couch a few feet away, his fiercely green eyes a sharp contrast to his light blonde hair.

"This is a very nice apartment." He commented, his eyes slowly scanning the surroundings.

"I know. I told Devon I didn't need it, but he insisted on buying it for me as a present for graduating from the police academy." Riley said, "So what's going to happen to your car?"

"They said they aren't sure. It's pretty badly damaged, but insurance should take care of it. If not, my father will cover the rest of the cost." Winter replied, his accent less pronounced than usual. Riley had a feeling he was making the effort to hide it from her.

"Your father?" Riley questioned, never remembering him ever mentioning him.

Winter laughed bitterly and said, "Well, I wouldn't exactly call him my father. He sort of had a one night stand with my mother. However, he has a wife and 'real children' as he calls them- and they don't know about me. So he buys me nice cars, nice apartments, paid for my college, all those niceties to keep my mouth shut. He is a very wealthy businessman back in Ireland."

"Oh. Sorry." Riley answered, feeling bad about bringing it up.

"Don't worry about it. It has long ceased to bother me. Really. I was close to my mother, and when she died she left all her money to my aunt so she could bring me here. I don't think it was her idea for me to become a cop in America though." said Winter with a slight smile.

"Your mom was a cop?" Riley asked.

Winter nodded and said, "She was. But she was on duty at the border fifteen years ago next week, when a car bomb went off. They told me she was killed instantly."

Riley looked a him wide eyed and said softly, "I am so sorry Winter. I guess this is why I am so bad at the dating thing. I ask all the wrong questions."

"No you don't." Winter told her firmly, standing and walking over to her. She looked up at him with bright blue eyes and smiled, slowly dropping her knees from her chest. "Now it's my turn to ask the questions. What has been going on with you the past few days?"

Riley's face clouded slightly and she said, "I have to show you something." She reached out and took his hand, leading him over to the desk in the study. Winter watched as she flipped on the light switch and then found himself staring. The desk was covered in notebooks, legal pads, newspapers, and photographs- all relating back to the same thing. "I found these in my mother's Suburban last monday."

Winter glanced at the nearest newspaper, where a woman with astonishing similarity to Riley graced its cover. He then picked up one of the legal pads, finding it to be written in very pretty cursive for the first half and then an abrupt transition to the blockier handwriting of a man. Winter recognized it instantly and sighed. He slowly brushed aside a couple papers and found a file lying closed just below them. Riley seemed to grow uncomfortable as he picked it up, but made no motion to stop him. As he opened it he did his best not to flinch. But as he looked at the pictures he felt a rising sense of familiarity in his gut, and he didn't know why. After a few long moments he looked at Riley. "Could I take these?" he asked, indicating o the notebooks and the file.

"Why?"

"It's just… I have a feeling." Winter said, knowing that it was an incredibly lame reason to convince her to give up things of this value.

"Okay. Take care of them for me." Riley said after a pause.

It was quite later that evening when Winter finally got his keys returned and was able to leave. As he put on his jacket he carefully tucked the papers inside and glanced around at Riley. "Are you sure you don't want me to stay?"

Riley smiled and nodded. "I will be fine. I have to finish up some homework and then I am just going to get some sleep."

"You don't work tomorrow, do you?" he asked, and she shook her head. "Well if you need anything… give me a call."

"Thanks Winter." Riley said, her face lighting up in a brilliant smile. He grinned back and patted her shoulder before walking out.

Riley yawned as she skimmed over the diagrams in her anatomy textbook before jotting down some answers on the worksheet. She glanced at the clock, seeing that it was now after midnight. With an even wider yawn she shut her book and stood, walking into her bedroom. Laying down she fell into a restless sleep as she had every night for the past two years.

When she heard the glass shatter at first she thought it was just part of her usual nightmares, but then the alarm system started to go off. Riley bolt upright and grabbed her gun off of the dresser, making her way into the living room. The outside window had been shattered. Riley knelt down, carefully avoiding any glass and noticed a piece of paper tied onto the brick. She yanked it off, and in the dim light read two words.

_Your turn._

Riley leapt to her feet, but not quite fast enough. A man came hurtling from just behind her, tackling her to the ground. Riley nearly cried out in pain as she felt pieces of glass pierce her skin. The man was wearing latex gloves and pressed a thick sheet of cotton over her face. It was dripping from a smelly liquid and Riley struggled to get it off. "Quiet down now, baby. It will hurt a lot less if you don't fight." He muttered into her ear. Slipping his gun out he pressed the barrel just below her navel. Riley furiously seized hers, which she had dropped in the scuffle and slammed it as hard as she could against his head. The man cried out and rolled half off of her. Riley struggled out from underneath him but he seized her legs and yanked her down again, laying on top of her this time from behind. "Fiery little thing aren't you? Just like your mother. You are as beautiful as she was, too." The man said, pressing more of his weight down onto her as his hand slipped underneath her shirt. Riley's heart was hammering in her chest as his hand wormed its way upward. She waited as calmly as she could and when he eased himself up slightly to get all the way she used the last of her strength to flip them over. He grunted in surprise and Riley wrenched free of his grasp, leaping up off the ground.

The door clicked and her eyes widened as a second man ambled in. "You are good, Riley, but not good enough." Riley started to turn but felt a numbness overcoming her limbs. Panic started to fill her as she scrambled desperately along the wall, her knees locking and her hands making bloody prints everywhere. She gasped as her entire body seemed to freeze and she staggered forward two more steps before collapsing. Riley felt herself shaking as she lay there, now completely unable to get up. A single tear slipped down her cheek as she knew that she had been drugged. Her mother had told her of the times when she had been drugged, and said that there was no worse feeling in the world. Riley now understood.

The two men walked over to her and looked in great amusement down at the incapacitated eighteen year old girl at their feet. "This drug is one the causes temporary paralysis. It's generally used in surgeries, but for you we'll make an exception." The man who had attacked her first said, kneeling down beside her. Then he looked up at the second man. "I get her first."

"No you don't. If it weren't for you, we wouldn't be in this mess." The man snarled in response.

"It is not! If her god damn mother hadn't-"

"Jeff, chill. I am sure she can handle both of us. However, we need to get those documents first." The one said, trotting off in the direction of the study. Jeff grinned down at Riley and scooped her up into his arms, carrying her over towards the door. The other man rummaged through the papers spread out on the desk, digging through the various photographs and newspaper articles. Moments later he sprinted back out in frustration.

"The file and the notes... they aren't here! The bitch hid them somewhere!"

Meanwhile Winter O'Connor glanced through the file, running his fingers through his hair. Something was bothering him about this. He really had nothing to go on, Elliot had never mentioned it, but something was familiar. Reading through the report one phrase caught his attention. His eyes widened and he jumped up, running over to his file cabinet where he kept the cases he was currently working on. Yanking out one file he tossed it on his desk. He pulled one photo from Riley's and then compared it to his. His eyes widened and he gasped, "No wonder the MO's never matched!" Reeling from this discovery he seized the files and dialed Riley's cell phone.

The cool wind picked up outside and snow began to fall.

Two Years Previously (twelve years after the events of 'Redemption')

"Riley! Hurry up!" Olivia called, pulling her car keys from the hook.

"Hold on!" Riley yelled back, running out of the bathroom and slamming her bedroom door. Olivia sighed and turned to Elliot, who was standing looking completely too amused with the whole situation.

"What is so funny Stabler? You do realize that you are going to be late to work too." Olivia asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Nothing. Just that she is completely your daughter." Elliot answered, walking up to his wife and affectionately cupping her jaw in his hands.

"Is that a compliment?" Olivia questioned with a grin.

"Absolutely." Elliot answered, leaning forward and kissing her passionately. Olivia wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed up against him.

"Get a room." They both whipped around, seeing Riley standing looking disgusted. But she then smiled sweetly at her father and asked, "Could I go over to Sarah's after school to spend the night?"

Olivia opened her mouth to respond, but Elliot answered first, "Sure honey."

"Thanks!" she said, hugging her father tightly.

After dropping Riley off at school Elliot and Olivia headed to work. Olivia looked over at Elliot as she stopped for a red light and said, "Ever notice how Riley always goes straight to you when she wants something?"

Elliot laughed and nodded, "She's a character. Just like her mother- I never could say no to you, could I?"

Olivia smiled back at him and pulled the suburban into a parking space. They walked up into the precinct, the spring air warm and fresh. Elliot walked unhesitatingly into the SVU but Olivia held back for a moment. Work hadn't exactly been fun lately. A series of rough cases and the recent appointment of a new captain for the unit made it more than a little unpleasant. Elliot turned and gave her a reassuring glance, and she slowly walked over to him.

The morning turned out to be quite a lot more eventful than Olivia could have ever predicted.

It started with the usual call to help in the capture of an armed suspect. The only thing unusual about it was that it was the FBI calling them in. However, at the moment Olivia wasn't in the mood for any speculation as the man was proving to be quite the challenge to catch. Sprinting around the corner of the warehouse, Olivia saw the perp making a mad dash for the street. She ran hard after him, seeing Elliot coming in the truck not far off. The perp stumbled and Olivia seized the opportunity to tackle him. They went crashing to the hard asphalt and Olivia was stunned for a brief moment. She heard loud sirens and was quite relieved to hear footsteps. The perp flipped her over, raising his fist to give her a good whack in the face. But quite suddenly he was grabbed from behind. "Get off her, you moron. It's a bad idea." The new arrival said, and Olivia was surprised to see that it wasn't Elliot.

The perp muttered some curse words and the man holding him appeared to have had quite enough. He handcuffed him and then threw him up against the nearest wall. The perp went still and lay facedown. Olivia stared and then slowly rolled off her back and onto her feet. The man was leaning up against his car, FBI stamped across the front of his jacket, while his colleagues went to handle the perp. Olivia heard Elliot skid to a stop in the Suburban and come running over. But as he reached her side he froze and stared. "Honestly you two, can you never stay out of trouble?" the man asked with an amiable grin, raising his face enough so that the sunlight reflected in his bright green eyes.

"Devon!"

A/N #2: Sorry it took so long to get to Liv and El! But I promise for the next few chapters its gonna be all about them! I know this fic has pretty much all questions at this point, but they will all be explained soon enough! Please read and review!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I got my laptop back, wohooo! So that means I will be able to wok more on this story! Thanks for reviewing so far! And this chapter is sort of slow, my apologies, but it is setting up some important framework… PLEASE keep reading and reviewing!

The tall and stocky FBI agent grinned broadly at them. "Who else did you think they would send to help you out on this case? A series of rapes all related to a major drug smuggling ring… seriously, I thought you would call me."

Olivia smiled back but was too surprised to say anything other than, "I thought you had retired."

Devon laughed and said, "I did. But after four surgeries, they finally got my hips into correct alignment and I passed the FBI's rigorous health test."

"Congratulations!" exclaimed Elliot, and Olivia jumped forward and gave her old friend a tight hug.

"It's so good to see you guys again! It's been what- three years since you last came out?" Devon said as Olivia released him.

"Just about." replied Elliot.

"Reagan's going to be getting here tonight. She was at a horse show in England, and she won so is coming to New York to compete in the Championships." Devon said with a smile, then looked at Olivia kindly. "How have you been?"

"A lot better." Olivia answered, looking up at Elliot, who gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"I am glad to hear that." Devon replied, squeezing her shoulder gently.

"Agent Masters, where do you want us to take him?" came the quiet question of the man standing behind Devon.

Devon turned and said, "Back to the 1-6. My friends here will interrogate the bastard. I will see you guys tonight, we have a lot to discuss."

As they headed back to the Suburban Elliot gently took Olivia's hand. "You okay? That looked like a rough tackle."

"I'm fine El." Olivia answered, smiling up at him. He brushed a lock of chestnut hair from her eyes and held her face gently in his hands.

"Promise?"

"I promise. Elliot, what's been the matter with you lately? You are acting like I am going to die or something."

Elliot flinched and said, "I just don't want to lose you."

"You won't ever lose me." Olivia told him, kissing him firmly on the lips.

He wrapped his arms around her and deepened the kiss. The warm summer breeze rustled around them and the sun was shining brightly in a cloudless sky, perpetuating the feeling of extreme calm. Slowly Olivia pulled away, placing a couple of soft kisses to his jaw. "We have to get back to work." She said quietly. Elliot nodded and watched he walk around to the passenger side. With a hesitant sigh he climbed up into his seat.

The new captain, Greg Knolls, met Olivia and Elliot upon their return to the precinct. "Do you have the suspect in custody?"

"Yes." Olivia replied, and Knolls nodded in approval.

"Good. Well Elliot, I need to talk to you about something, so Olivia, you can conduct the interrogation with Officer O'Connor." Knolls said, and Olivia and Elliot shared a confused glance. Knolls ignored it and yelled, "O'Connor!"

A young man with light blonde hair trotted over towards them and smiled gently. Olivia smiled back, but Elliot only nodded stiffly. "Just out of curiosity, why are you pulling me from the interview and replacing me with a uni?" Elliot questioned the captain, who glared at him.

"Take it easy, Detective. Obviously you haven't noticed your suspect is German, and doesn't speak any English. Officer O'Connor is a Yale graduate and fluent." Knolls scolded Elliot, then nodded at Olivia and Winter to head off.

"You just tell me what you want me to do. I don't want to infringe on your game." Winter said to Olivia as they walked up to the interrogation room.

"You'll do fine." Olivia answered kindly, surprised by the young officer's amount of courtesy.

The man was sitting in the room looking more than a little nervous. When they entered he jumped to his feet and said, "Es was nicht mir! Nicht mir!"

Winter looked over at Olivia and translated, "He says it wasn't him."

Olivia looked at the man and said, "Sit."

"Du kannst sitzen." Winter told the man, and he sat immediately.

"Ist sie okay?" questioned the man, gesturing to Olivia.

"Ja… warum?" Winter asked.

"Gut. Sie ist nett." The man answered, and Winter turned to Olivia.

"He wanted to know if you were alright, and he said you were nice." Winter said, and Olivia glanced at the man in surprise- that wasn't something you heard very often. She pulled out her legal pad and began to write down what Winter translated for her in very neat cursive.

The interview progressed at a rather slow rate, and Olivia had to admire Winter's endless amount of patience. He was more than willing to ask a question fifty different ways and the man slowly began to talk. However, after about fifteen minutes Winter stopped translating for her and seemed to be getting quite confused. "What's going on?" Olivia asked Winter, who was looking at the man with a very curious expression.

Winter held up his hand to get the man to stop talking and then said, "I don't think he understands what he's here for…"

Knolls shut the door to his office and sat Elliot down, looking at him calculatingly as he filled out some paperwork. Elliot bit his lip to keep from sighing in irritation. This was one of those times that he wished Cragen was still around; Knolls was far to rule-orientated for his taste. After a long while Knolls finally leaned back in his chair and said, "So you and your wife have been partners for how many years?"

"About twenty, a little less." Elliot answered.

"I heard you were suggested for promotion to Captain several times. Why did you refuse?"

"I don't know. I just didn't feel quite ready."

"You mean you didn't want to stop being your wife's partner? Trust me Elliot I can understand how she would need you for support." Knolls replied matter of factly.

Elliot stared at him for a second and then slowly said, "She wanted me to take the position. Believe me, Olivia can take care of herself."

"Can she? Never mind. Look Elliot, I am a little uncomfortable with husband and wife teams."

"Captain, we have worked fine together for a number of years. We are completely willing to prove that to you."

"Good. That's what I was hoping you would say. For this case, you are going to be partnered with Detective Adrianna Young, from Narcotics. You are going to go undercover."

"Captain, Olivia and I go undercover all the time." Elliot argued.

"You said that you were willing to do anything, Detective. If you refuse this, then you both will be permanently split up."

Elliot furiously left the room, heading over to interrogation. He glanced in through the one-way glass, seeing that Olivia and Winter still weren't getting very far. Elliot smiled despite everything as he looked at his beautiful wife. "Elliot!"

He turned and saw Devon trotting over. "They sent me over to supervise the interrogation. We think this guy has some major information on the drug smuggling organizations." Then he glanced at the wall clock and asked, "Could you pick my wife up from the airport? I'm sorry, but her flight should be getting in shortly."

"Sure thing." Elliot responded.

Elliot hurried over to the gate where there was already a flood of passengers exiting the large jet. He stood close to the doors and kept a look out for Reagan. Much to his surprise, she was last off of the plane. Her trainer was walking in front of her, dragging his bags along and carrying hers as well. He glanced at Elliot and a fleeting look of concern passed over his face. Then he smiled reluctantly and turned back to Reagan, who was looking quite ill. This struck Elliot as unusual- Reagan was a pilot, she was plenty used to flying. "My horse? Is he okay?" Reagan asked her trainer in a panicky tone.

"He's fine, I am going to stick around and help get him off his plane. You just go with your friend and get some rest." He told her, gently taking her shoulders. Reagan jumped and flinched. The trainer immediately let go of her and said, "Reagan, you need to relax. Just get some sleep okay? We can work Siegfried tomorrow afternoon."

"Okay." Reagan said softly.

Elliot had watched the entire exchange with a horrible feeling in his gut. As Reagan sat down in one of the chairs, her trainer went over and told Elliot very quietly, "Take good care of her. She's been horribly sick. Threw up almost the entire second week of the show, and she hasn't eaten hardly anything."

As he walked off Elliot slowly approached Reagan. "Hey. Sorry Olivia and Devon got stuck at the precinct, but I can take you to our apartment."

Reagan looked up at Elliot with a wavering smile and said, "Don't worry about it. I have a hotel room."

"Don't be ridiculous. You are welcome with Olivia and I."

"No, I don't want to be a problem Elliot. Really I don't." Reagan muttered, putting her face in her hands. As she did so the sleeve of her sweater slipped down to her elbow and Elliot saw a dark bruise and gash on her arm.

"What happened?" Elliot asked gently, and Reagan instantly jerked the sleeve back down.

"I tripped over a loose bale of hay, nothing big." She told him dismissively.

Elliot decided not to press anything further and led her out to the car. Reagan climbed painstakingly in, and Elliot shut the door for her. After a while of driving in silence he said, "I am sure Devon will be done soon. I can have Olivia drop him off at your room."

"No!" Reagan exclaimed, and Elliot turned to look at her in shock. "I can't see him yet… please don't call him." Reagan was now in tears and was looking at Elliot pleadingly.

Elliot nodded and pulled over at her hotel. He walked her up to her room and helped her put all her bags away. "Thanks Elliot." Reagan said, gently touching his hand.

"Reagan… what happened?" Elliot questioned, taking her hands gently. Reagan looked up at him and hesitated a moment before dissolving completely into tears. She threw her arms around his neck and her entire body shook as she cried. Elliot gently patted her back, and inwardly felt a sharp stab of sympathy for her.

"I didn't want too… but he told me that he'd… kill my friend if I didn't." Reagan gasped out, holding tighter onto his shirt.

"What did he make you do?" Elliot asked her softly.

"He… I couldn't stop him! He said that we had been really stupid and were going to pay for it."

"Who had been really stupid?"

"Us… Devon, Olivia, me… and you." Reagan answered, her voice shaking.

"Do you know who it was?"

"Yes, it was someone at the show, but I can't tell you who."

"It's okay, Reagan, he can't hurt you anymore." Elliot told her gently, and Reagan immediately pried herself from his arms.

"You don't understand! He doesn't want to hurt me anymore- he told me he'd kill you if I said anything."

Elliot stared back at her, his mind reeling. Never before had he had such an awful feeling for the outcome of a case. As Reagan looked back at him with fear dancing in her eyes, Elliot was seized by a sudden concern. "Did he say anything about Olivia?"

"No. Just about you." Reagan answered, and Elliot sighed in relief.

He had no idea just how misplaced that relief was.

"Come on Reagan, I need to get you to a doctor." He said gently, and as he took her by the arm, he picked up his phone and called Olivia.

"Liv… I need you to meet me at the hospital."

A second plane touched down at the runway of the airport, and an older man got off, looking around for his associate. He saw him standing in the distance and hurried over to him. "Is everyone in place?" he asked urgently.

"Yes, they are."

"Good. Remember… you can't just kill whichever of them you want." The man said quietly.

"We know that. Relax, it's going to be fine. Reagan has already given them an advanced tip off- it always makes it so much more fun when they try to figure it out."

"It does. It does." Laughed the one man, and then his cell phone started to ring. Picking it up, his expression changed from amusement to anger. As he put his phone away he said, "The police have the German in custody. One of the Stabler's is interrogating him."

The other man looked stunned and exclaimed, "We have to hurry."

A/N#2: Sorry, I know that probably none of the questions were answered in this chap… but next chap will have a lot more OE!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: At last, the triumph and return of OE fluff! STRONG PG-13 in this chapter. I hope you like this chap, its definitely my favorite so far. REVIEW (Please please)!

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters…but i do own the plot!

Olivia hurried into the doors of the hospital, seeing Elliot already sitting in the waiting room. "What's going on?" she questioned urgently.

"I picked up Reagan… she isn't doing very well." Elliot said.

"What happened?" asked Olivia, sitting down beside him.

Elliot didn't answer for a second, and before he could Doctor Swanson came walking out. "How is she?" he asked immediately.

"She will be okay… but you were right. Raped more than one time, and I found traces of several drugs in her system. I am waiting for the specialist to finish up the kit, but could I see your gun really quickly?" Doctor Swanson asked, and Elliot handed it over.

The old Doctor looked it at carefully then handed it back. "That would do it."

"Do what?"

"I suspected a foreign object was used, and my guess is that it was a gun. I will be back in a little while with more."

As the doctor headed off again Olivia stared at Elliot. "Oh my God… who would do that to her?"

"Evidently someone who also wants the rest of us dead." Elliot answered, and related to Olivia what Reagan had said.

"What is going on?" Olivia moaned, putting her face in her hands. Then she looked up and said, "We have to go through all of the cases we have done in the past twelve years that we in some way worked with Devon."

Elliot nodded. "That narrows it down a lot, but a lot of the cases that we worked with the FBI referenced Devon."

"Speaking of Devon, who wants to do notification?" asked Olivia.

"I'll do it. He's still at the precinct, correct?"

"Yes."

"I will be back in a few." Elliot told her, and with that he stood and hurried off.

Olivia spent a tense hour waiting for Elliot to come back or for Doctor Swanson to return, whichever came first. In the end, it was the Doctor that got back first. He looked sadly at Olivia and said, "Well the kit is all done, but her bloodwork just came back. She's pregnant."

Olivia walked slowly into Reagan's room, not quite sure what to say. Reagan rolled over and smiled at her. "Olivia… how are you doing?"

"I'm fine. I'm so sorry, Reagan." Olivia said, taking her hand.

"It's not your fault. And it's not like it hasn't happened to me before." Reagan replied with a sigh. At Olivia's puzzled gaze she said, "I guess Devon never told you exactly how we met."

"No, he didn't." Olivia answered, thinking back on it.

"Well I was working as a civilian informant for the FBI, since I was a pilot and everything I could help out when they needed something to do with the airport. One time some of the people they were after found out and took the entire plane hostage, using me as the example for what they did to 'snitches'. Devon managed to shoot them before they got too far, but you know…" Reagan said, sitting up gingerly.

"Elliot said you knew who did this to you." Olivia said, and Reagan slowly nodded. "You have to tell me who."

"I can't. You don't understand. They will know."

"Reagan…"

"Olivia, if you arrest him, the rest of them will find out. You can't do that. He said he would kill Elliot."

"Reagan, they always say that. But they won't." Olivia told her gently.

"No. This isn't just some stupid rapist. There isn't anything you can do that will make me tell you. I don't want Elliot killed on my account." Reagan told her firmly.

Olivia opened her mouth to protest but was interrupted by the door clicking open. She immediately backed away when she saw it was Devon and Elliot. Elliot pulled her by the shoulder gently out of the room. As the door shut Olivia asked, "How did he take it?"

"He's pissed. I wouldn't want to be the sorry bastard who raped his wife. Of course, if someone did something like that to you, you know what I'd do to them, so I can't blame him." Elliot answered, protectively wrapping his arm around her waist. "I have to talk to you about something, Liv."

When they arrived back at the apartment Olivia looked curiously at Elliot as he took of his jacket. "What's up?"

"Knolls is sending me undercover with a detective from narcotics." Elliot said, sitting down on the couch.

"What?" Olivia questioned, sitting down beside him.

"He said that we had to prove we could be separated, or he would reassign us partners permanently. I'm sorry." Elliot told her, gently stroking the side of her face.

Olivia smiled and said, "Don't worry. It could be a lot worse." She could tell that he was thinking of their friend's situation as well. Elliot nodded slowly and leaned in to kiss her, feeling her soft breathing against his cheek. She kissed him vehemently back, willing him to make the pain of the day go away. His hands slipped to her shoulders to push her down onto her back. Looking up at him Olivia slowly undid his tie and dropped it to the floor. Elliot had already succeeded in unbuttoning her shirt, and traced his hand slowly across her stomach. He then flattened his hand and pressed it gently against her abdomen. Olivia placed hers over it and ran her fingers up his arm. Elliot pressed his forehead to hers and then kissed her with a great deal more fervor than before. Olivia gave in completely and felt a tingle run down her spine as he slipped his hand down further.

A couple hours later they heard a hesitant knocking at the door. "You can't be serious…" Elliot moaned, easing himself into a sitting position. "Coming!" he yelled as he yanked on a pair of sleep pants. Olivia sighed and settled for a pair of his boxers and shirt since she couldn't find her clothes. Elliot ambled over to the door and Olivia trotted over to catch up. When Elliot opened it, they were both surprised to see Officer O'Connor standing at the door. He appeared to realize just what he had interrupted and flushed slightly.

"Sorry to intrude. I just thought you should know, Marc Schmidt is dead." Winter said, and Olivia stared.

"The German we were talking to earlier? What happened?" Olivia exclaimed, gesturing for him to come inside. Then she noticed the gash on his face.

"I was taking him out to the car and this guy just drove by and shot. He died instantly." Winter said, his accent far heavier than usual in his distress.

Olivia shook her head in disbelief, and then asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. He wasn't aiming at me." Winter said simply.

Elliot and Olivia glanced at each other briefly and then Olivia suddenly asked, "What did he say about the rape in England?"

Winter thought about it for a second and then said, "He said that he hadn't had any part in it, and that he told them that they shouldn't do it. He said that the woman was nice and that her horse had a German name. But I don't know if it means anything, it didn't make much sense at the time."

"Siegfried. That's Reagan's horse, named after the German legend." Olivia told Elliot, who immediately sighed in anger. "Reagan wasn't kidding when she said that these guys were brutal. They have already killed the one person who could have shed some light on their identity."

The next morning Olivia found herself to be both sore and exhausted. The early hours of work dragged on while Elliot was being briefed on his undercover assignment, which was to start that evening. Olivia was using all of he breaks to sift through old files, but so far had found no connection between Reagan's rape and any old cases. When Elliot finally returned, he didn't look happy. At Olivia's questioning gaze he told her, "Adrianna and I are playing a wealthy husband and wife at the large medical banquet tonight. But that's even the worst part. Devon just called me. Reagan is insisting upon competing tomorrow, against medical advice."

Olivia leaned back in her chair and ran her hands over her face. Just then Knolls came marching out. "Olivia! Come in here, you are going to be back up tonight. You need your undercover information." She hesitantly stood and went over into his office, taking the file that he held out to her. Holding back a sigh of displeasure she read it over. "Thanks."

"You're lucky I put you in there at all, Stabler."

"What?" Olivia questioned, perhaps a little too sharply.

Knolls didn't appreciate that tone and said, "Maybe you were a great detective once, but at the moment, your husband is definitely overshadowing you."

Olivia didn't say a word as she walked out, slamming the file down on her desk. When she did so, she found a young, blonde haired, blue eyed woman sitting on Elliot's desk and chatting with him. Elliot saw her return and said, "Liv, this is Adrianna."

Adrianna turned and smiled sweetly at Olivia. "You must be his wife. Nice to meet you. See you tonight." She said to Elliot before walking off. As she did so, she gave one last smile to Olivia- or rather smirk. Later on, Olivia ran into her in the restroom. Adrianna looked over and asked, "Knolls tells me you have lost some of your touch. Is that true?" When Olivia kept walking, she continued, "Your have a very nice catch for a husband. He and I get along great. Maybe tonight you can see someone with talent work with him."

Olivia turned around and snapped, "And you think that you have talent? Try again." But as she left, a horrible gnawing feeling in her gut made her wonder, _had she lost her touch?_

That evening Olivia was sitting with Devon at the bar of the convention hall. He had also been assigned as back up, and at Reagan's insisting, took the job. However, he was definitely not his usual self. Olivia smiled encouragingly at him as she got up to go and mingle. The interesting thing about this particular case was that the drugs being smuggled weren't the usual street stuff. It was powerful medicine such as painkillers and sedatives, so they knew it had to be someone close to medical circles.

Her gaze fell upon Elliot and Adrianna. They were talking and laughing with a group of people. Olivia bit back jealousy as she knew it wasn't warranted, and continued walking. However as she slowed to talk to a young geneticist she had met earlier, she saw Adrianna sling he arms around Elliot's neck. Olivia froze and watched as she pulled him into an openmouthed and passionate kiss. Elliot didn't even try to push her away and returned it with perhaps even greater enthusiasm. They did not separate for a good while. When they finally did, Adrianna was glowing when she turned back to her friends, all of whom were quite delighted by the kiss. She caught Olivia's eye from across the room and her smile broadened before she turned back to Elliot. This time, however, it appeared that she wasn't the one who had initiated the kiss. Elliot had leaned forward first, and now they were once again kissing. Olivia gritted her teeth and stormed back to the bar.

"Well that was a colossal waste of time." Elliot muttered as he shut the door behind Olivia. "We didn't get anything."

Olivia took off her jacket and then snapped, "Really? Even with that impressive make out scene?"

Elliot froze and asked, "You saw that?"

"Yes, I did. Totally necessary, wasn't it?"

"Liv… I couldn't do anything. If I would have stopped her, it could have blown our cover."

"Sure." Olivia said bitterly, stepping away. Elliot grabbed her arm and pulled her back. Olivia was made even angrier by this gesture and spat, "What Elliot, you didn't enough last night?"

Elliot looked back at her in shock and replied, "Olivia! You know that's not it! How many times did we kiss undercover when I was married to Kathy?"

"Like once!" exclaimed Olivia, furiously wrenching free of his grasp. "I'm sorry that I am just not as good of a detective as you are, but next time why don't you and Adrianna just get a room?"

"Liv, what is wrong with you? You are just as good as I am." Elliot asked, his voice filled with concern for her.

Olivia fought the tears springing to her eyes and said, "Not that you care, but let's see… my friend got raped, is pregnant, and now my husband is making out with someone ten years younger than I am!"

Elliot backed her up against the wall and held her there with his legs on either side of her. "Liv, listen to me. I didn't want to. I didn't want to." He said firmly, pressing his hips harder against hers as she started to wriggle to get free.

"Elliot let me go!" she yelled, fighting quite desperately. He didn't budge and after a while she finally settled down.

"Liv, what's going on?"

"It's just that I… Adrianna and Knolls both said that I am losing my skills."

"And you believe them?" Elliot asked incredulously.

"I don't know what to believe anymore."

Elliot took her face in his hands and kissed her forcefully, feeling her tense against him. After a moment she relaxed and gave him full access to her mouth. Of course as soon as he released some of the pressure on her she jerked free and went straight for the door. Snatching her jacket off the rack she slammed it loudly as she exited the apartment.

Elliot watched her go in stunned surprise. "Dad?" He turned and saw Riley standing in the hallway, looking as surprised as he was.

Olivia walked into the precinct late, finding that only Munch was left. He was filling out some sort of form and greeted her with a smile. "Hey Olivia. What brings you here?"

"Just wanted to work on this case." Olivia replied, quickly gathering up her composure.

Munch seemed to notice something was up and so didn't press the subject. "Oh, this uni came by. He dropped something off for you."

Olivia frowned slightly and hurried over to her desk. She looked at the file laying there and opened it. A passage of the interrogation had been highlighted. Olivia's eyes widened and she snatched up the file, rereading it to be sure. Then she sat down and pulled out another file- one that was twelve years old. Her hand came to her mouth and she gasped, "How could we have missed this?"

A/N #2: Okay, I am sorry if it's kind of confusing, but next chap will sort of give a better explanation and tie up some loose ends. Please review!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Sorry it took so long to get this up! Next chapter should be up soon (its spring break, yay!) and it will conclude Part One of the story… PLEASE READ AND REVIEW:)Thanks!

Strong PG 13 in this chap by the way….

Disclaimer: Refer to the previous chapters if you really care…

* * *

Munch didn't appear to have heard her, and so asked with a slight grin, "What did you and Elliot do to scare off the poor uni? He said he had your address and when I suggested that he could swing the file by he immediately said that he didn't want to intrude again." Olivia didn't answer and couldn't even bring herself to laugh at the joke. Standing quickly she raced back out the hall. Munch stared in confusion after her and shook his head. 

All the lights had been shut out in the stable when Olivia arrived there. Quietly getting up out of her car Olivia slipped into the barn. It was dead silent except for the soft playing of classical music on the speaker system to keep the horses calm. Olivia swallowed slightly and tried not to think about the eeriness of the whole situation. As she started down the hall, the hairs on the back of her neck pricked. She paused, but dismissed it as the sounds of the horses stamping and crunching on the straw. Moving on, she glanced at each nameplate on the stalls. Then she heard the quiet crunching sounds again. Turning around she thought she saw a shadowy figure slipping into a nearby open door. Olivia whipped back around and kept walking down the stable block, frantically searching. Her heart jumped when she finally found plate that read 'Siegfried.' The light was so dim that she had to pull her flashlight out. When the beams illuminated the interior, Olivia's eyes widened as she saw the horse laying on his side, covered in sweat and panting heavily. She slid the door open and went to kneel by his side. As she reached out to unclasp his blanket she gasped in surprise as a person stepped out of the shadows. Before she could even respond they had jumped forward, tackling her to the ground.

Olivia used the force of his leap to flip them over and she slammed her fist against his jaw. Then from out of nowhere a second man appeared, and his booted foot slammed into her stomach. Olivia collapsed to the side, completely winded. The one man sat on her abdomen and pinned her arms above her head while the other sat on her legs. Olivia was gasping for breath, and squinted as the man shined a flashlight in her eyes. Fighting furiously she hit the man as hard as she could in the face. He recoiled back and she twisted to the side, wrenching her feet out from underneath the other man. She struggled up and then lunged forward as they started to stand. Olivia came down hard on the man's back, pinning him face down. She jerked out her handcuffs and applied them as tightly as she could. But before she could do anything else, the other man had sprinted out.

"You stupid bitch!" screamed the man under her knee, flailing miserably. Olivia knelt on him harder and slid out her cell phone. As she did so, the lights in the stable were starting to come on, and a young groom came sprinting down the aisle.

"Are you okay? I heard a commotion…" he began, and Olivia nodded.

"I am fine. Just call a vet for this horse."

By the time Elliot arrived a vet was already working on Reagan's horse, and had quickly discovered that it had been drugged. Olivia walked over to Elliot and was unable to meet his gaze. "Liv, what were you thinking? Coming without backup?" When she didn't answer Elliot cupped her jaw in his hand and forced her to look at him.

"I had to, El. I figured it out."

"Figured what out?"

"Reagan's rape is rape number eight in our current case. I wasn't sure at first if they were connected, but now I am positive. And it all dates back twelve years." Olivia told him.

Elliot frowned slightly and asked, "How did you figure that out?"

"Winter brought by an old file. Remember when I went to Colorado and was drugged? Well the documents state that they were drugs only available in hospitals. We never suspected anything larger than just our situation."

Elliot's eyes widened and said, "That guy told Reagan that we had made a big mistake."

Olivia nodded slowly. "We never investigated the possibility of a larger drug ring. And Nathan Myers, the guy that went to trial for my attempted rape, got out on parole three years ago."

"He's the main guy in this?" Elliot questioned incredulously.

"It's looking like it." Olivia replied, and then flinched as she touched her side with her hand. Elliot glanced down at her in concern and gently raised the corner of her shirt. There was a large swollen bruise where she had been kicked.

"Come on, let's go get you checked out by the medics." Elliot told her, taking her arm. As they made their way over to the ambulance, they found Devon walking up to the barn, carrying Reagan in his arms. She was still in hospital scrubs and was looking completely exhausted. "Devon, whenever you get a minute we need to talk to you about the case."

"Sure. Just let me get her over to her horse. I will be right back." Devon replied before hurrying into the stable.

Meanwhile the medics bandaged on a thin gel ice pack to Olivia's bruise, after telling her to be sure to have her doctor check it out in the morning. Just as they were tying it off Devon trotted back over. "What's up?" he questioned. Olivia filled him in on their discovery and he nodded in agreement.

"Well at least you caught one of the little bastards tonight. That way maybe we can get some more information." Devon said.

"Do you think that they are taking to drugging the horses now too?" Olivia questioned, as she hadn't been sure whether or not the events were connected.

"Positive. Reagan told me that their main point of raping her was to get her to withdraw from the competition. You see, the top three from a variety of competitions this year made it to this show. Reagan won the last one, so she and two other people moved on. However, the third place finisher mysteriously withdrew, leaving an open spot for the fourth place person- a Steven Jones. Now here's the other part. Whoever wins this one is invited to a championship in Brazil."

Olivia rubbed her face with her hands, trying to process all of this information. Devon continued, "Basically, the drug ring needs these competitions for some reason, and Reagan was in the way."

"Makes sense. But somehow I don't think that Jones is capable of orchestrating something like this." Elliot said after a moment.

In the dark shadows behind the barn wall, the man who had escaped stood listening. Taking a cautious step forward, he took them all in. The woman who had given him a nasty bruise on his face seemed convinced that it was Jones. However, her husband didn't seem to be. He slipped out his camera phone and snapped a picture, quickly sending it off. With a smile he turned and hurried away, quite confident that all of their problems would be solved soon.

The next morning dawned bright and clear. Elliot and Olivia had stayed out all night, waiting to hear the horse's diagnosis. The vet told them that they had caught it just in time and that he should be okay to compete. An hour before she was scheduled to go Olivia helped Reagan get ready. "Are you sure you should do this?" Olivia asked one last time as they stepped out into the ring, where Siegfried stood with the trainer.

"I have too." Reagan answered simply, gathering up the horse's reins and swinging up. She did a fairly good job pretending like it didn't hurt, but Olivia wasn't fooled. Olivia watched in concern as Reagan slammed her heels against the horse's sides and they cantered off.

Tension was extremely high when Reagan entered the ring as the final rider. Devon and Elliot were watching from the stands while Olivia stayed at the in gate, pretending to be a groom. As she watched Reagan salute the judges and begin her round, the young man who had ridden just before came to stand beside her. "Hi. I'm Steven." He said with a grin, holding out his hand.

"Nice to meet you." Olivia said with a flattering smile.

"Steven, don't converse with the help!" came an angry voice behind them. Olivia turned and saw a middle aged man standing with Steven's horse. She immediately looked away and pretended to focus entirely on Reagan's round. "Let's see how the little bitch does now." The man said softly, taking a few steps forward. Olivia felt her heart speed up slightly and she gripped the rail a little harder. Reagan was doing well so far, her horse leaping the massive fences like they were nothing. The man behind her seemed to be growing more and more frustrated. "God damn it! She's still going to win even after all of that!" he shouted, and several people turned around, Olivia included.

Elliot and Devon were on their feet much like the rest of the crowd, the excitement tangible. Then all of the sudden a shot rang out, causing Reagan's horse to spook sideways. Reagan barely managed to stay on through the horses mad leap out of the way of the bullet. "What the..." Devon began, and then stopped as he saw his wife glance briefly around. She had evidently made up her mind. Kicking the horse forward she made the way to the final jump. The crowd roared loudly as they cleared it and sprinted through the finish line. Reagan galloped out of the gate as fast as she could, one final shot barely missing them. With that Devon stood and ran down the steps, racing towards his wife. Elliot meanwhile was glancing up in the stands, trying to see if he could locate the shooter. With no luck he hurried down after Devon.

Reagan had slipped off her horse as soon as she crossed through the gate. Luckily Olivia saw this coming and caught the exhausted Reagan in her arms before she hit the ground. "You okay?" Olivia asked, and Reagan nodded slowly. As Reagan sat up on her own, Olivia glanced over at the man with Steven's horse. He took a few steps forward and spat, "Reagan Masters, you do not know when to quit, do you?"

Reagan noticeably tensed and Olivia didn't miss a beat. She was on her feet and whipped out her handcuffs. "You are under arrest for the rape of Reagan Masters. You have the right to remain silent…" As the security guards rushed over Olivia told them to call the police and have them bring him back to the 1-6.

Olivia and Elliot stayed for the awards ceremony, as Reagan had won despite it all. They watched as the red roses were draped over the white horses neck and the blue ribbon hooked to his bridle. Then Reagan was handed a thick bouquet of roses. With a broad smile she took them and then turned to look at Olivia and Elliot. "I couldn't have done it without you two." With that she tossed the bouquet over, and Olivia caught it deftly. "Come on you guys, get in the picture."

And for one last time they all stood together. Devon held the horses bridle while smiling up at his wife, who grinned broadly holding the large silver trophy. Olivia leaned back against her husband's chest, relaxing to the sound of his heart beating.

As soon as the photographer finished Reagan got down off her horse and the trainer led him away. Olivia gave her a hug and said, "You were amazing."

"Thanks. I am going to be okay." Reagan told her, then turned back to Devon. He smiled at her as she wrapped her arms around him.

* * *

Olivia was starting to lose patience with the man she had caught the night before. James was refusing to talk about anything. "I told you, I don't know what you are talking about." He repeated for the eighth time. 

"Sure you do, James. You drugged that horse so Reagan couldn't compete and so you could continue your little drug ring."

"No. That's incorrect." He said with a smirk. As he leaned back and stuck his hands in his pockets Olivia heard the sound of paper crunching.

"Empty your pockets." Olivia told him suddenly, "Now!"

James grudgingly yanked some items from his pockets and dropped them on the table. Olivia slowly reached out and picked up the folded piece of paper. On the top was a picture of Elliot, and at the bottom…

"You and your husband, Detective." James said with a wide grin.

Olivia just stared at the photo and then looked up. "That's not me. That's my daughter."

James looked mildly surprised and took back the piece of paper, examining it. Then he shrugged. "You don't understand, Detective. You are way too late. If you had figured it out sooner… but you are just too late."

Elliot met Olivia at their desks before they headed home for the night. "Did you get anything out of Reagan's rapist?"

"No… he admitted that he 'taught her a lesson' but nothing else. But we have a court order for his DNA, so I have no doubt that that will be a match. Plus, he only made it partway through the interview…" Elliot answered, handing over her jacket.

Olivia caught the gleam in his eye, and asked, "Why was that?"

"He decided he'd like to pick a fight and nailed me in the ribs. Then I got him a few times maybe a little harder than necessary and he went unconscious." Elliot told her, slipping into his coat. Olivia laughed and then walked out with him.

It was nearly ten when they got home. Riley had fallen asleep at her desk. Olivia smiled as Elliot picked her up and put her into her bed. Riley woke slightly and asked, "Mom, can you check my Spanish paper in the morning?"

"Sure, honey. Goodnight."

"Thanks." Riley said, immediately falling asleep again.

Shutting the door quietly they both walked into their bedroom. Elliot caught Olivia's hand and pulled her back over to him. "Are you still mad at me?" he asked, stroking the sides of her face. Olivia shook her head and smiled. She slipped her shirt over her head and kissed him fervently. He put his hands on her back and pulled her to him, breathing deeply into her hair. She pushed his shirt off his shoulders and ran her hands up and down his chest. Feeling him wince slightly she looked down and saw the good sized bruise on his ribcage. "It's okay." He told her softly, taking her hand in his. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his jaw. He picked her up and laid her gently down on the bed. Olivia wasn't sure why, but for some reason tonight she was nervous. Elliot picked up on this and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Olivia answered, her breathing already very fast from her nerves. Elliot kissed her forehead and then made his way down her neck. As he did so, Olivia couldn't shake the fear raking through her gut. She couldn't figure out what was wrong with her, and so took his hands and drew them up. He seemed surprised by her sudden initiative and hesitated a moment. "I'm fine Elliot." Olivia repeated, pulling his lips to hers again.

That entire night Olivia wasn't able to get rid of the nerves. At nearly midnight Elliot took her hands in his as they lay on their sides and kissed her gently. "You okay?"

"I'm sorry Elliot." she said softly, and shut her eyes, failing to stop tears from dripping down her face.

Elliot pulled her up close to him and said, "You did great. It's just been a tough week." He held her gently, feeling more than a little guilty. It had been a long time since she had cried when they slept together. In fact the last time was the first time. He pressed his forehead against hers, feeling her breathing slow down. "Did I hurt you?" he asked, his tone gentle and worried.

"No. No. It's me. These past few days I just… I don't know. I feel like everything is falling apart… Elliot, I can't lose you." Olivia said, scooting up closer to him.

"You won't." Elliot told her, shocked by her uncharacteristic behavior. She was usually so reserved about things like this. As he ran his hands through her hair he inwardly began to feel a strange sense of uneasiness. The loud ring of her cell phone made them both jump.

"Benson… yes, we will be right there." She said, and turned to Elliot.

"That was Knolls. They think that the guy who escaped is in this warehouse, and he's evidently got some sort of hostage." She said, and Elliot sighed.

"Let's go."

* * *

The sounds of water dripping from the pipes of the old warehouse were quite irritating to the man, who rarely had to work in these filthy of conditions. The woman beside him was proving to be quite the handful, though he should have guessed that from who her father was. She was also remarkably calm, she had only screamed when he caught her, but after that had only glared at him. "Don't worry Kathleen. I am quite positive your father and his partner will be arriving soon. She's a pretty thing isn't she?" 

"You had better not let my father hear you talking about Olivia like that." She spat, furiously fighting against her restraint.

"Oh trust me, he won't hear a thing. And believe me, she will be screaming fairly loudly." He said with a smile, and then turned as another man stepped up beside him.

"Sir, they are here." He said, glancing down at the hostage.

"Good. Let the game begin."

A/N #2: Sorry, if it was confusing, I tried to use dividers and stuff… but next chapter is going to pretty much explain it out completely! I promise! You know what to do… R&R!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Okay, this chapter is extremely depressing, but please don't stop reading my story! Please read and review!

Disclaimer: Don't own them.

Devon met them at the steps of the warehouse, looking quite upset. "I don't think you should go in." he said immediately, and Knolls heard.

"Agent Masters, it is not your job to prep my Detectives. I resent your ill thought out remark." Knolls snapped, before turning to Elliot. Devon gritted his teeth and seized Knolls' shoulder, jerking him back around.

"You have no authority over the FBI. I resent your ill thought out plan to send your best detectives into certain danger." Devon spat, visibly shaking. Elliot and Olivia were quite stunned- they had never seen him this angry before.

Knolls looked absolutely floored by Devon's scolding. He slowly peeled Devon's hand from his shoulder and turned back to Elliot and Olivia. "Look, he has your daughter, Kathleen. The hostage negotiator's tried to get him to let her go, but he would only talk to you two. You have to go in. We will have you covered. He also said that you had better not look prepared for the worst- in other words no vests."

Elliot stared at him and looked about ready to run up the steps, but Olivia had seized his arm. Devon looked more uncomfortable and exclaimed, "Don't go in! Please, this is not what it seems, I can feel it."

"I haven't got a choice." Elliot said, and he turned to face the building. Olivia stepped up beside him.

"They are on the second floor." Knolls said simply, and with that Elliot and Olivia walked up the steps. Devon looked after them in absolute worry and then tightened his grip on his rifle.

Olivia hesitantly climbed up the stairs to the second floor, Elliot charging ahead at a much brisker pace. The clanging of their footsteps on the old metal steps was so loud that Olivia almost flinched. As they reached the landing Elliot indicated for them to split up and Olivia hurried down the left wing, weaving around stray pipes laying about the floor. "Olivia!" Olivia glanced to the end of the hall and to her relief saw Kathleen sitting on the floor.

"Kathleen, are you okay?" she questioned, running over and kneeling beside her.

"Fine. They only tied me up." Kathleen replied, shaking her hands lightly after Olivia cut the ropes.

Olivia froze and looked at her stepdaughter in confusion. "They? We were only told there was one guy."

Kathleen nodded. "There's two."

"Alright, now you run down the stairs and out the doors. Have Devon radio us to tell us you made it." Olivia told her, pulling her to her feet.

"But I can help you guys…" Kathleen began, but Olivia gave her a shove.

"No, we've got this handled. Now, run!" Olivia exclaimed, and Kathleen reluctantly took off. Olivia then turned and made her way down the nearest open pathway to find Elliot. As she ran, her radio crackled and Devon reassured her that they had Kathleen. Just as she was about to respond the grated metal floor gave a loud smash as someone landed heavily on it from behind her. Olivia spun around and saw the same man who had escaped from her at the horse show. A moment later he had leapt forward and seized her around the waist, dragging her against the wall.

"And so we meet again, Olivia. Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you. I have other plans for someone as pretty as you." He whispered in her ear, and Olivia instantly recognized his voice as that of Nathan Myers.

Olivia slammed her elbow into his stomach and jerked free of his hold. She pulled his arm behind him and snapped a handcuff on it, then hooked the other end around a nearby pipe. With that she sprinted down the hall, and to her relief saw Elliot not far off. Racing to his side she told him, "I got Myers!" Elliot looked quite pleased and smiled at her. Just as she slowed to a stop, she looked down to her right and saw the second man standing calmly with his gun raised. "Elliot, look out!" she screamed, and lunged forward, slamming her shoulder against him to push him out of the way.

"You are sure you're okay?" Devon asked Kathleen, who was sitting in the back of the ambulance, wrapped tightly in a blanket. A piercing gunshot suddenly echoed through the air. Devon whipped around, and stared up into the window of the warehouse. Almost immediately someone came through on his radio. It was Elliot.

The man hadn't seen her coming. Just as he pulled the trigger she had shoved her husband out of the way. He screamed in anger as she sank to her knees. With that he galloped down the hall, searching for Myers. "What the Hell just happened?" Myers shrieked, fighting furiously against his restraint.

"She got in the way… I didn't see her coming!"

"You shot the wrong person!" screamed Myers in rage, "She wasn't supposed to die!"

With that the other man sprinted off, leaving Myers still hooked to the pipe.

Elliot pressed his jacket harder against the wound in Olivia's side, his eyes already glossy from tears. She lay with her head in his lap, her breathing heavy. "Come on Liv. You have to hold on, alright?" he told her, and she nodded slightly. Elliot radioed again for the medics and then focused on Olivia. She was growing paler and her breathing was starting to steady. Elliot shut his eyes and felt tears drip down his face. When he opened them again, he found that Olivia was starting to close hers. "No, no. Liv you can't go to sleep now. You have to stay awake." He said, shaking he shoulder gently.

Olivia looked at him with eyes filled with pain and muttered, "It hurts."

"I know it does. But you are going to get help in just a minute, hold on for me, okay?" Elliot cried, panic rising in him. She was going into shock faster than she should.

With a staggered breath Olivia closed her eyes again. Elliot shook her gently, but she didn't open them. He pressed his forehead into hers, feeling her short breaths against his cheek. As more of her blood soaked against his arm, Elliot considered just carrying her out to the doors. But he knew she could die in such a transfer, as he couldn't put enough pressure on the wound on his own while carrying her. He needed help.

Devon heard Elliot's desperate cries for help on the radio, but Knolls refused to send anyone in, as they hadn't apprehended the second man yet. "Knolls, you have to send the paramedics in there!" he screamed, approaching the police captain again.

"I can't. We don't know where the other perp is."

"So you are just going to let he die?" yelled Devon, his hand gripping his gun.

"Agent Masters, more people could die if we send them in. I have no choice."

"You may not, but I do. I will take care of the second perp, and the moment I radio you, send them up." Devon said, striding off to the stairs.

"You can't do that!" exclaimed Knolls.

"Yes I can."

"You need backup!" Knolls yelled, and just as Devon was about to open his mouth in response and loud voice interrupted him.

"I'll go with him." Winter O'Connor said, walking to stand beside the FBI agent. Devon smiled at him in gratitude and then sprinted up the stairs, the young officer close behind.

The area in front of the warehouse had turned into an absolute frenzy. Paramedics, police, the FBI, news reporters, photographers, and passerby's were all swarming around and several police officers had been dispatched for crowd control. Among them was Henry Samsry, a mounted police officer and husband of Alex Cabot, the ADA. As he kicked his horse forward to stop an overzealous photographer from getting any further, he picked up his phone and called his wife.

"Liv… come on, look at me." Elliot whispered to Olivia, shifting her slightly on his lap. She reluctantly opened her eyes. "Remember that time we went skiing with Devon and Reagan? I was making fun of you for falling and then I hit a patch of ice and slammed right into the ski instructor with a train of little kids behind him? How I lost both my skis and somersaulted through the air until I landed flat on my back? I don't think I've ever seen you and Devon laugh that hard before."

Olivia smiled slightly, a tear dripping down her cheek. Her body shook slightly as the cold overcame her and she tried to take in another breath. But the pain tearing through her stomach was starting to affect he lungs, and they just didn't want to work anymore. Her body was quitting on her. Olivia screamed at herself to fight it, but the rising level of cold numbness mixed with pain was winning. More tears dripped down her face as she forced another breath, this time tasting blood in her mouth. As her stomach seized in another round of stabbing pains, she muttered, "I'm sorry, Elliot."

"You don't have anything to be sorry for. I love you." Elliot told her, kissing her forehead gently. As he did so, he glanced at his watch. It had been almost five minutes.

As he looked desperately down the hall Olivia closed her eyes for one last time. When he looked back down, she had an expression so quiet that she could have been mistaken for sleeping. "Liv! Liv! Wake up!" Elliot screamed, but she didn't respond.

Olivia heard him yelling, but couldn't bring herself to open her eyes. She was felt herself going, and never for one instant stopped fighting it. As she struggled to keep breathing, she was suddenly taken by a fear of being left alone. But as she felt Elliot's warm body pressed up against hers she realized that he wouldn't leave her. And so it was that she managed to take in another gulp of air.

"Elliot!" He looked up and saw Officer O'Connor looking down at him. "The medics are here."

Elliot allowed Olivia to be pried from his arms but was crying quite freely. As they ran back down the hall after the medics hauling Olivia out, Winter paused. "Devon! She's out!" Elliot stopped briefly, and saw someone staggering in their direction.

"The other one got away through the back door. I'm sorry." Devon panted, clutching his arm close to his side. Elliot saw blood streaming from it, along with the tip of the bone sticking out.

Alex arrived just s the helicopter landed in the middle of the street. She caught a brief glimpse of her friend being rushed on a stretcher towards it and her heart contracted in shock. When she turned around she saw Elliot coming out of the warehouse, red staining his arms. Alex felt a sob rising in her throat as she looked over at her husband, who was walking his horse toward her, looking defeated. And just then, a heavy rain picked up.

Riley woke shortly after her parents left. The rain pattered away on the windows and the silence in the apartment was unnerving. She stretched and yawned, rubbing her eyes. Slowly she got up and walked out into the hall. Riley sighed. Her bare feet smacked across the floor as she made her way into the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator and grabbed a Pepsi. Gulping half of it down in less than a minute she waited for the caffeine to start working. She had to finish her calculus because the huge unit exam was tomorrow. Riley was just about to head back to her room when the phone rang. Her exhaustion stopped her panic for a moment, but as she reached for the phone it hit her, hard. She always worried when the phone rang and her parents were gone. They were always in danger. But tonight… something was different. The sick feeling in her gut increased ten fold when she read the caller ID. Her hand shook slightly as she picked up the phone.

"Stabler's."

When Riley arrived at the hospital she was greeted by Devon and Winter at the doors. "How's my dad?" she exclaimed, looking fearfully at them.

"He's going to be fine. We'll take you up to see him. But he's going to be asleep, they gave him some heavy sedatives." Devon said, his voice amazingly gentle and quiet.

Riley nodded, biting her lip nervously. "What happened?"

Winter and Devon looked at one another. Winter finally slowly answered, "He and your mom got stuck in a building. There was still a shooter inside, and he took a few shots at them. But your mom shoved him out of the way so he didn't get hit."

"Okay… so where is she? Can I talk to her? She's probably going nuts, with dad almost getting hurt and all." Riley said. Winter immediately dropped his gaze to the floor and Riley was sure she saw tears in his eyes. Devon gently took her shoulder, tears dripping down his face.

"Your mother took the bullet for your father. She didn't feel much, though. She was DOA." Devon said, his voice cracking.

"DOA?" questioned Riley, taking a giant gulp, "That's dead on arrival… she can't be… there's no way…" They didn't answer, desperately trying to regain their composure. Riley suddenly broke down, falling to her knees with her face in her hands.

The dark office was especially sinister looking that evening. The older man poured himself a glass of wine and sat down, awaiting news from his people. Much to his surprise, his door came flying open and Winston Perry came stumbling in. "They caught Myers. And I shot Olivia Stabler on accident."

The man nearly dropped his glass in surprise. "You did what? We wanted her alive, you idiot!"

"I know, she got in the way! The bullet was meant for her husband!"

"Good job, Perry. Now you've killed a cop. And the wrong one for that matter!"

The funeral was not long after, on a bright and sunny summer day. The turnout was astonishing. The events in the warehouse had been all over the news for the weeks following; it was like one of those things that people just couldn't seem to move past- the death of a beautiful lady cop with a family. Her picture was on the cover of the paper more than once, and perhaps it was her haunting brown eyes that kept people so transfixed. Something about the case made it impossible to just get over and move on with life. Something begged to be remembered about it.

Elliot hadn't seen Olivia after she died, the medical examiner had insisted that it would be a horrible idea -that he didn't want to remember her that way. And in the end, Elliot agreed. His loss was so great that nothing could possibly bring any sort of closure. Riley always said that he died in the warehouse with her, that she lost both her parents on the same day. And in the midst of all of this, Reagan approached Elliot after the funeral and said, "I'm keeping the baby."

End Part One

A/N#2: Please don't kill me! Read the next chap and it's a little happier I promise! And yes, there is still plenty more too come!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Well I had written most of this chapter a long time ago, so that's why its up so quickly! You guys rock, sticking with my story! Please please please read and review!

Elliot gulped down the rest of his drink, struggling to remain sitting up. It had been two months, but he still hadn't managed to return to work- though he was scheduled to tomorrow. Knolls had resigned almost immediately following Olivia's death, and Cragen had agreed to step in until a replacement could be found. Elliot sighed and asked for another drink, and the bartender reluctantly handed him one. He nearly fell out of his chair reaching out to get it. Fortunately, someone grabbed his arms from behind and hauled him back. Elliot looked over and saw Winter O'Connor come to sit on the chair beside him. He didn't say anything, only looked at Elliot with a sort of sorrowful understanding. After a while Elliot asked him, "Why did you do it?"

"Do what?" Winter questioned, looking up at him.

"You went into the warehouse with Devon when no one else would." Elliot told him simply.

Winter gave a sort of sad smile, and said, "Because it was the right thing to do."

Elliot looked back at him, somewhat surprised. "That must be why you have all those awards." Winter was probably one of the most decorated lower level officers in the NYPD.

Winter laughed and replied, "Maybe."

"You better be careful, you could get yourself killed."

"Oh believe me, that wouldn't bother anyone. In fact, I bet my father would throw some sort of party if I died- after he sold my car and apartment, of course."

Elliot looked at him in a stunned sort of silence. "Do you really believe that?"

"It's true. So ya, I do believe it." Winter replied, and then said, "Come on, I'll drive you home. Riley's probably worried about you."

Winter walked Elliot up the steps and helped him into the apartment. Sure enough Riley was sitting up at the counter, on the phone trying to track down her father. She smiled in relief at Winter and walked over to her dad. Elliot smiled at her and kissed the top of her head when she gave him a hug.

"Goodnight honey." He told her, and then walked off to his bedroom. Riley looked after him and then turned back to Winter.

"Thanks for bringing him back."

"No problem. Do you have school tomorrow?" Winter asked.

"No. Summer break started last week. I'm supposed to go to this special pre-med thing at Stanford for three weeks starting tomorrow, but I don't think I'll go."

"Why not?"

"I just… it was something my mother really thought I should do. It's supposed to look really good on college apps and everything. But it's just going to be hard, you know?" Riley answered with a distant shrug.

"You should. I'll keep an eye on your father for you." Winter told her with a smile.

Riley smiled and gave him a hug. "Thanks." And then she placed a very light kiss on his cheek. With a slight wave she walked away into her bedroom. Winter stood quite stunned, and then finally summoned up his senses enough to head out.

The next day Elliot woke up with probably the worst hangover of his life. He stumbled out into the kitchen, digging around for Advil. Riley tapped him on the shoulder and handed him a glass of water and two of the painkillers. Elliot smiled at her and then gulped them down.

"Dad, Ashleigh's mom is going to pick me up at noon, you know she's going to that class at Stanford too. I'll call you when I get there." Riley told him, and Elliot nodded, somewhat surprised at her change of heart. He had had to drag her out of bed and take her to school in her pajama's the first day she was supposed to go back- some three weeks after Olivia died. Riley had thrown an absolute fit about going to school, and it had taken a week of his escorting her around to her classes for her to finally be able to settle into it again. But Elliot wasn't going to let her lose everything too.

"Good, you'll have fun." He told her, looking at his beautiful daughter who looked so much like her mother.

"You're going to be okay, right?" Riley asked, her eyes wide with concern.

Elliot didn't answer and instead just gave her a gentle hug.

When he arrived at work, he was greeted by almost dead silence. Slowly making his way to his desk, he tried not to look at hers. But something caught his eye. A legal pad. He pulled it over to his side, and read through the first page and then skimmed through the rest. Then in the middle of a thought, Olivia's cursive stopped. Elliot bit his lip and then found a new sort of determination. He would solve this last case.

* * *

Present Time

Riley couldn't remember much of that evening after the man had dropped her on the hardwood floor. When she came to, she was laying on her couch wrapped up in a blanket with paramedics busily working on her. And Winter stood looking very concerned just behind them. As she opened her eyes she suddenly discovered that she could move again. "Glad you finally got here, Detective." She murmured, smiling slightly at him.

"I can't leave my favorite girl for to long," replied Winter, relief evident in his tone. "Plus, Devon would kill me if I let anything happen to you while he's gone."

Riley laughed and slowly pulled herself into a sitting position. "Did you catch those guys?"

Winter shook his head. "No, but we ran the prints, and surprise surprise, they belonged to a Winston Perry. Stupid bastard."

Riley sighed and said, "At least you got his, the other guy was wearing gloves. They were looking for the file and the notebook."

Winter didn't seem surprised and then sat down beside her as the paramedics walked off. "Do you remember that case a few weeks back where that woman's husband got shot?"

Riley nodded and said, "Of course, you were on the cover of the paper, carrying her out."

"Right. Well her husband was shot in the abdomen and she said the shooter snuck up on them in a stairwell. The MO didn't match your mother's because your father was the one who was supposed to be shot. But I'm positive Winston Perry shot him too. Same with your doctor."

"Oh my God… I thought that the lead guy in this was Myers, and he was put in jail right after my mother died. It doesn't make sense that Perry would act alone."

"That's because he's not. Your father was right. Myers isn't the lead guy in this."

"Then who is?" Riley questioned, her eyes wide.

"I don't know… but I think your Doctor Swanson gave us a clue. After he was shot, the crime scene investigators told me he sent a fax. It was important enough that he was willing to send it before taking care of himself."

"Who got the fax?"

"A Serena Warren, married to a Doctor living in the Florida Keys. That's what Devon is down there checking out." Winter replied. Riley shook her head, completely overwhelmed by the whole situation. "Why don't you get some rest, I'll finish up with the officer's here."

Riley smiled at him and he patted the top of her hand gently. He started to stand but she caught his hand and squeezed it. Winter seemed surprised but didn't let go of her hand. "Thanks Winter, for everything. And by the way- screw our age difference."

Winter didn't quite know how to respond and so just grinned.

* * *

Devon Masters walked cautiously through the streets of a small town in the Florida Keys. He kept his hand close to his gun, feeling more than a little uneasy. His boss had sent him down here to scope out the situation- nothing to dangerous. But still, Devon's gut kept twisting and was quite painfully nagging at him. He sighed and sat down under a shady umbrella, glancing through the little marketplace where people strolled about. A waitress came over and offered him something to drink, which he reluctantly accepted. The ocean crashed upon the beach nearby, normally a soothing sound to most people. But Devon was already quite bitter and the stupid ocean smacking the sand was enough to drive him insane. When the waitress brought him back his drink he sipped it slowly, and then picked up his phone. He dialed the familiar number and waited. Naturally, she didn't pick up. "Hey Riley honey, I was just checking up on you. Call me when you get this message. Love you." He said, flipping his phone shut. He really worried about that girl. She was his last connection to them, a living breathing reminder of what had once been. And ever so slowly she was slipping away too.

His partner, a young agent in training, trotted over and flopped down loudly in the chair beside him. Devon raised an eyebrow and sighed. "What's up?"

"That Doctor wants to see us, at noon." He said quite proudly.

"Oh wonderful. Glad you could arrange that Jack." Devon replied, downing the rest of his drink in one gulp.

Jack looked at him and asked with a grin, "How's your kid doing?"

Devon laughed and asked, "Which one?"

"The baby, of course. And the twins. And the cop." Jack answered, smiling even wider.

"The twins are great. The baby is adorable, looks just like her mom. And Riley… she's not doing so well."

Jack looked surprised but then grinned, "I'll help her feel better. She is so fine."

Devon glared at him and said, "Touch her and I'd be forced to kill you."

"Easy Devon. You know I wouldn't." Jack said with surprising honesty, "We should head over to Warren's." Devon nodded and stood.

Doctor Warren sighed as he shifted in his chair, eying the two FBI agents almost sadly. "My wife came here about two years ago… she doesn't like the heat too much."

Devon furrowed his brow slightly and asked, "Why did she come then?"

"Well she and her first husband were in the wrong place at the wrong time. The store they were at got robbed, and her husband was killed with three bullets through him. She got shot once, and almost died. But they sent her here to be rehabilitated, and that's when I met her." The Doctor said mournfully, "It took her about a year to get back to normal. But she still has nightmares about it."

"That's awful. I am so sorry." Devon said, feeling an unexpected surge of gut wrenching emotion.

Warren smiled slightly and said, "She will be okay. Look the reason why I called you down here is because of a fax I received. It was addressed to my wife, and had confidential stamped all over it. But the thing is its medical records. And they are from a Doctor Swanson in New York City."

Devon straightened in his chair slightly and was about to ask something when a maid walked in. "Doctor Warren I finished the upstairs except for your wife's room. Do you want me to start on dinner?"

"No… go wake up Serena. Tell her we have some important guests and to dress appropriately."

"Are you sure Doctor? Pardon me but she was sound asleep, I feel bad waking her. She had a rough night last night." The maid said hesitantly.

"Did she? I feel bad that I keep getting these night shifts."

"Yes. She was up on her laptop until about one, and then said she fell asleep a couple hours later. I woke up when she started screaming. She told me that she was fine though. I kept on eye on her until she fell asleep again."

The Doctor sighed and asked, "What was she doing on the laptop?"

"On the internet as usual looking up something." The maid said, and then she smiled slightly, "She told me that the laptop was the best gift you ever gave her."

"I know. One of the few times she has smiled was the day I got it for her. You would think that she'd like the hundred thousand dollar diamond bracelet I got for her more, but if she's happy, it's all good." The Doctor replied.

With that the maid trotted upstairs. She slowly opened the patio doors, allowing the warm light to flood in. "Mrs. Warren, you have to wake up. Your husband has guests." She said, and the woman on the bed moaned slightly and jerked the covers up over her face. The maid laughed slightly and yanked them off of her, earning her a glare. "What do you want to wear?"

"The blue dress is fine." yawned Serena, stretching slightly. The maid brought it back over and looked at her in an appraising sort of way.

"You need to get your hair re-highlighted. I can take you Monday."

"That's alright, I'd better drive my car. Lawrence thinks I don't like it." She answered dully, sitting down on the stool. The young maid smiled at her and brushed through her long auburn hair. Serena then slipped into her blue gown and asked, "Does it look okay?"

The knee length blue dress was a light fabric tying in a halter top with a very low back and layers of flared fabric at the bottom. "You look fantastic. Now go on downstairs."

When she arrived, Lawrence greeted her with the fax. "This came for you. Perhaps you can enlighten us as to its meaning."

She took the fax and glanced at it in surprise. But she nearly dropped it in absolute shock when she flipped to the second page, on which was scrawled in Doctor Swanson's handwriting a short note. Her eyes widened and she stood absolutely still. "Mrs. Warren, is something wrong?" asked Devon, and she whipped around to face him.

He stared briefly and then collapsed in a dead faint.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I apologize for any confusion in last chap as too Elliot's whereabouts'- good call jmewebber- but you will discover them in this chap. I just didn't feel I could drop everything at once. Well thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far! You guys are the best! I love the feedback!

I have replied to the reviewers of the past two chaps below!

heartandy112- sorry about not warning you:( Thanks for the compliment on my writing, I am immensely flattered:)

NicksterPotter- I hope this chapter will help with confusion! I know this story has sort of been tons of threads that can be hard to follow (I myself get confused when writing sometimes!). Thanks for reading!

jmewebber- yes… ;) good calls, both of them. You will soon find their answers…

Taty Girl- Ya, it was a very sad chapter, it took me a really long time to write it. In fact, it was originally the ending to Redemption- aren't you glad I changed my mind on the ending to that story? Lol. I am so glad you like my writing!

Littlesweetcupcake- please don't die! I promise, things will start looking up!

YellyBelly- Yes, she did do a great thing, saving his life- she's the best! Oh and believe me, Elliot will not move onto another woman, I couldn't handle writing that!

Tany- Sorry for breaking your heart! It was a hard chapter for me to write as well! But trust me… I have quite a few surprises left in store…

Garrettelliot- glad you are enjoying them!

If I missed anyone, my sincerest apologies! I will try to amend it next chapter!

Devon felt a warm hand on his forehead, and a gentle voice telling him to wake up. When he opened his eyes, he saw her smiling, though tears were silently dripping down her face. That smile he never thought he'd see again. He glanced around and whispered, "Where are the Doctor and Jack?"

"They went to get his medical kit for you." She answered, the broad smile never leaving her face. Devon reached up and ran a hand down her cheek, his hand brushing against the long diamond earrings dangling from her ears. He then traced his hand over her jaw and through her beautifully sculpted layers of hair, streaked with light blonde over the dark chestnut. Then he glanced down and pulled out the corner of her shirt, seeing a scar there. She flushed slightly and then he suddenly dragged her up against him in a death grip hug. Throwing her arms around his neck they flipped over so that he was on top and he pressed a kiss to her cheek.

"Jesus Christ. I don't even know where to begin. Except that I've missed you, rather we've missed you so much!" Devon exclaimed, and then he broke out into a laugh from pure joy. And she laughed too, rolling over so that she was once again on top.

"Devon Masters. You are definitely the best friend I've ever had."

"Whoa! We interrupting something?" They both turned around to see Jack standing there looking absolutely floored, and the Doctor looking more than a little displeased. She quickly scrambled to her feet and held out her hands to help Devon up.

"Not at all. Good to meet you, Agent Jack Marshall. I do believe I have the answer to the mystery of the fax."

Jack stared at the woman, still shocked from seeing her rolling around on the floor with his partner. "You do?" he finally sputtered, and found himself turning pink at the gorgeous smile she gave.

"I do."

"So… this note, you know what it means?" Jack asked, the beautiful woman looking very patient.

"Of course. It says that Serena Warren needs to get these files to Olivia Stabler as fast as possible. That's easy."

"What? Olivia Stabler's dead, she was killed by the same people that killed this Doctor Swanson." Jack exclaimed, staring at her in absolute confusion.

"Agent Marshall. I am Olivia Stabler. I have been in witness protection for the past two years."

"Olivia!" exclaimed Doctor Warren, glaring over at her in concern.

"It's alright Lawrence. I have little to be afraid of anymore." Olivia said, "Agent Marshall, Devon Masters is a good friend of mine, we met on a case years ago."

"Well, why don't you two catch up?" Lawrence said, and Olivia smiled gratefully.

Olivia led Devon out to the garage, where her sleek blue Mercedes convertible was parked. He looked at it in surprise and traced his hands along the edge. "Dear lord, Olivia. The guy didn't have to this for the witness protection program."

"No, he got that for me as a gift." Olivia told Devon, leaning up against the hood.

"What happened?" Devon asked, his bright green eyes especially penetrating.

"I remember waking up from surgery and they told me that I had to go into witness protection, and if I didn't, my family would most likely be killed. The next thing I knew, I was on a private jet down here. They didn't keep me in New York longer then six hours after I got shot- I got the surgery and left. They were worried I might die on the plane ride here, but they couldn't risk keeping me home. So I arrived here and Doctor Warren took over my care immediately. He knew that I was in the Program, and agreed to take me on as his 'wife'. I stayed in the hospital here over six months, and then was released to be on bed rest. It's only been in the past half year or so that I have felt like myself."

"I'm so sorry Olivia." Devon said, patting her hand lightly.

She took a deep breath and continued, "After I started feeling better, Lawrence started to buy me really expensive gifts. The car, this bracelet and earrings, a laptop, designer clothes, you name it. He told me he wanted me to be happy again."

Devon looked over at her and sighed, "He's in love with you."

Olivia nodded slowly. "I felt so bad, but I can't love him. I just can't. Even after we found out about Elliot's car accident, it didn't change anything. Lawrence thought I would get over him, I still think that he believes that. But I won't."

"Olivia, you did nothing wrong."

"But I feel like I did. I felt so dirty, like I was betraying him the whole time down here. And then he left me too, and I couldn't tell him how sorry I was! This case took my life. I lost everything and I can't ever get it back. There hasn't been a day that I haven't wished I had just died when Perry shot me." Olivia said, tears dripping down her face.

Devon looked back at her and felt his own eyes brimming with tears and he whispered, "Elliot wouldn't have blamed you for anything. Just because someone else loved you doesn't make you dirty, Olivia. In fact, you showed an extraordinary ability to remain true to Elliot despite overwhelming reasons not to. And you haven't lost everything. Riley I am sure would like nothing more than to see you again, you must not quit on her to."

Olivia wiped her eyes slightly and asked, "How is she?"

"Pretty good. Winter O'Connor's been taking care of her. He has a good understanding of what she's going through. But she's kind of been on a downhill slide. You can tell she wants to hang on, though. After her dad died I sold the house in Colorado and we all moved to New York. Our apartments a block or so away from Riley's."

Olivia stared at him and asked, "You moved your whole family just for her? You gave up your life in Colorado?"

Devon looked back at her steadily and nodded, "Of course. It wasn't like I had much left there anymore. My brother has always been totally obsessed with the house- he is way into cross country skiing and snowmobiling, so when I offered it to him for a relatively low price, he jumped on it. My work was bringing me closer to the east coast anyway and Riley needed someone there for her. In the end it all worked out. The twins like it, and Reagan and the baby do too."

"Baby?"

"Oh. Reagan decided to have to baby. She's an adorable little girl. We named her after you."

Olivia flushed slightly and said, "You didn't have to do that. And I honestly don't know what to say for everything that you've done for my family," She paused slightly and then murmured, "I'll never understand how you turned out to be such a nice guy when you have every reason in the world to not be. I don't know how I would have turned out if all the stuff that happened to you had happened to me."

Devon turned to face her and answered, "I think you greatly underestimate yourself Olivia. I sincerely doubt I could have made it through all that happened to you."

"But I didn't make it, Devon." Olivia replied, wiping the corner of her eye again.

"Yes you did. And the way I see it, we have this one chance with life and we had better take what we get and make the best of it. We can't control what happens to us, but we can control our responses to it. Now it's your turn Olivia- what are you going to do now?"

Olivia looked up at him and smiled slightly, "I'm going to go home."

Devon nodded and grinned at her, "Good, I'll take you. Let's go change something for the better for your daughter."

When they walked back in the house, Jack and Lawrence were sitting at the table looking rather confused. "I'm going home." Olivia said, and they both turned to stare at her.

"You can't. You could be killed." Lawrence told her, standing and walking over to her.

"I know. But I can't do this anymore. My daughter needs me. I am not going to let her be destroyed by this too. I am going home- and I think I know the answer to this case." Olivia said firmly, her brown eyes filled with resolve.

Lawrence didn't answer for a moment, and then said, "I am going to miss you."

Olivia smiled at him and said, "I really appreciate everything that you've done for me. Thanks." And then she gave him a gentle hug.

When she turned to go up the steps Devon called after her, "I got us a plane. It leaves in an hour."

"Good." Olivia replied, and then sprinted the rest of the way up the steps. "I'm going home!" she shrieked to the maid as she walked by.

"Are you serious?" the maid exclaimed, as she was the only other one who knew about Olivia's witness protection. "Oh my God, I can't believe this."

"Neither can I." Olivia replied, grabbing her suitcase from the closet. The maid was almost giddy with happiness and hurried about getting her clothes.

"Now you are going to be happy again, right?" the maid questioned, looking over at her as she tossed a heap of nice clothes into the suitcase.

Olivia paused briefly from her unplugging of the laptop, "Yes, I think I'll be happy again." Suddenly she was confronted with the very painful memory of the night before…

_Olivia slowly shut the lid of her laptop and set it on the table beside her bed. She pulled her knees up to her chest and sighed deeply. A soft knock at the door made her jump. "Can I come in?"_

_"Sure." Olivia answered. Doctor Lawrence Warren opened the door and smiled at her. He went over and sat on the edge of her bed, his brown eyes filled with concern._

_"I wish that you wouldn't be so sad. You are so beautiful, it hurts me to see you upset." He told her, and Olivia didn't answer. Lawrence glanced at the set of keys next to her laptop, emblazoned with the Mercedes-Benz symbol. "Do you not like the car? I can trade it in for a Lexus if you'd like." He said with a halfhearted smile._

_Olivia looked over at him and laid her hand on his shoulder. "No, it's not that. It was nice of you to get it for me. You didn't have to." _

_"I want you to be happy. Anything you want, Olivia, and I will gladly give it to you." Lawrence said gently, taking her hand. Olivia was momentarily stunned, he almost never used her real name, but she recovered after a moment._

_"I am grateful for all that you have done." Olivia said simply, and then got up and walked out onto her balcony. The sea was calm that night and the moon was quite bright. Much to her surprise she heard footsteps and Lawrence came to stand beside her. She turned and felt him step up closer to her, so that their bodies touched and her thighs were pressed hard into the railing. Olivia was shocked- he had never tried anything this physical before. They didn't even sleep on the same floor of the house._

_"Why do you always push me away? I love you." He said, and he attempted to kiss her. Olivia turned away and he settled to kiss her jaw. He seemed disappointed and whispered, "You loved your husband. I understand. But he's dead. You can't love something that isn't there."_

_Olivia shoved him away and murmured, "I can't let him go." With that she walked back into her room. Lawrence was right behind her, and pushed her hard against the nearest wall. He pressed his lips to hers and held her shoulder firmly. Olivia furiously pushed him off, her eyes now shining with tears._

_"I trusted you. I trusted you!" she screamed, "I have lived with you for two years and I thought that you understood. I lost my family- my daughter doesn't even know I'm alive and my husband died before I could tell him. And I would rather die than sleep with you or any other man for that matter."_

_Lawrence immediately took a step back and said, "I'm sorry. I just wanted you to feel happy again."_

_"Not going to happen." Olivia muttered, and then turned, a pained look in her eye. "Why did you try so hard to save me? Why couldn't you have just let me die?"_

_"Olivia… you wanted to live when you were sick. You fought the hardest of any patient I've ever had. It was only after you husband died that you wanted to as well. There's a reason why you lived through getting shot."_

_"Maybe there was. But it died with my husband."_

When she walked back downstairs she told Lawrence, "I'll pay you back for the laptop, but I have a lot of stuff on it."

He held up his hand and shook his head. "Consider it a gift, along with everything else. You deserve it."

"Thanks." Olivia said hesitantly, and then gave him another hug before hurrying out the door with Devon and Jack.

"So do you really think you solved that case?" Devon questioned as they ran along.

"It's all in the fax. God bless Doctor Swanson. We never would have figured it out without him." Olivia answered, swinging open the door to the car. "God, I can't wait to see my daughter again."

"Riley's missed you like crazy." Devon replied, with a slight smile.

Jack stood and stared at them. "Wait- you two had a kid?"

Devon laughed and said, "I told you my family was complicated. And no, Riley's not my blood daughter."

Jack nodded, but didn't look much less confused.

"Riley you really shouldn't be here today. You don't need to work after you just about got killed last night." Winter told Riley as they stood in the almost empty hallway leading into the precinct.

"I'll be fine. Where would you be if you didn't have me to watch you and your partner's back when you go to crime scenes?" Riley questioned, grabbing his tie lightly. Winter laughed and then cupped her jaw in his hand. Riley smiled broadly and pulled him closer, pressing a very firm kiss to his lips.

"Young lady! I am home early to keep an eye on you." Devon exclaimed, seizing Winter's jacket and hauling him easily back. Riley's eyes widened at the sight of him and then she smiled broadly, throwing her arms around his neck.

"You aren't too mad, right?" she whispered into his ear with a slight grin.

Devon rolled his eyes and replied, "Not too mad, but we'll have to talk. Later. But first, there's someone I think you should meet."

Riley released him and looked curiously behind him. Devon stepped out of the way and Riley saw a woman with long chestnut hair smiling at her. When she stepped forward into the light all of her features, including her dark brown eyes, were illuminated to an almost unearthly quality. "Hey, Riley. I've missed you a lot."

"Mom?" Riley asked, her limbs temporarily frozen. Olivia smiled and nodded. Winter looked quite ready to pass out from shock, and Riley still hadn't moved. "But you… died…" Riley muttered, still unable to quite grasp the situation.

"Almost. But I pulled through and they put me into witness protection." Olivia told her, and then Riley completely dropped her guard. She sprinted forward and jumped up into her mother's arms, just as she had done when she was a little kid.

"People have always told me you never know when you'll get a second chance, but I never believed it until now." Riley muttered into her mother's ear while holding tight onto her.

"I didn't either." Olivia replied, patting her daughter's hair and looking over at Devon, who was smiling quite widely.

A/N #2: Now that I have completely toyed with your emotions I bring her back! I suspect there are a couple chapters left at this point. And believe me, it will be quite worth it to stick around to the end.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Please keep on reading and reviewing! Next chapter should be up soon!

That evening Olivia ambled slowly around Riley's apartment, gazing at various pictures of her and Elliot after she had gone into witness protection. The fresh stabs of pain in her gut made her almost nauseous and she felt a little bit dizzy. "Mom?" Riley questioned gently, walking up behind her. "You okay? You probably should eat something."

Olivia shook her head. "No, I'm fine."

"Mom, you haven't eaten anything since you've been here." Riley said, a pleading look in her eyes.

"Riley honey I'm alright. I don't eat that much anymore. I'll have something tomorrow." Olivia replied, laying a reassuring hand on Riley's arm.

"You know, when dad died in that car wreck, I wasn't really surprised. He died that night with you. I mean, I thought that maybe in time he'd be okay, but something told me he wouldn't." Riley murmured, glancing at her mother.

Olivia nodded slowly and went to sit on the couch, putting her face in her hands. Riley walked up behind her and rubbed her back lightly, noticing with worry that her mother was definitely far skinnier than she should be. "Mom, you said you found out the person in charge of the drug ring."

Olivia looked at her and answered, "Yes."

"Well we should get started on it, don't you think?" Riley said, and Olivia shook her head.

"Not quite yet. So how long have you been seeing Winter?"

Riley laughed slightly and replied, "Like a day. Honestly when you guys caught us was the first time."

"How old is he?"

"Twenty nine. I know you don't think I should see someone that old, but he's really nice." Riley began, already anticipating the argument from her mother.

"Riley, an eleven year age gap isn't anything little. And I know that he isn't the type to use you, but still… you never know."

"Come on mom, you and dad were six years apart. Devon and Reagan are ten. Plus Winter's totally an old school gentleman, he never so much as touched me when I was younger than eighteen. And he came over loads after you left, mostly to bring dad home after he got smashed."

"Oh. Well, why don't you call him over. I need his help." Olivia said.

Winter arrived at just after ten, looking quite ready to work on the case. "Here, Mrs. Stabler." He said, handing over her old legal pad and file. Olivia smiled at the gutsy young detective and glanced through the legal pad. "What do you need help with?"

"So I received a fax down in Florida from Doctor Swanson just before he died as a result of being shot by a member of the drug ring. They were medical records from a visit Elliot had with a Doctor John Regal. However, there wasn't anything medical about Elliot's visit. The files said nothing about any ailment he complained of, and Doctor Swanson scribbled a couple notes on it. He didn't have much time to write anything, he only said, 'drugs.'" Olivia said, "So it is quite evident to me that the good Doctor Regal is the one in charge of this drug smuggling ring. I need you to help me pull the hospital security tapes around the time that Doctor Swanson died- last time you guys weren't looking for another Doctor."

Winter nodded and then asked, "How did Doctor Swanson know that you were alive?"

"He was the one that gave me the surgery in New York. Can you pull the tapes?"

"Of course. Let's go." Winter replied, striding out to the door.

"No… if you do it first thing in the morning it will be fine." Olivia told him, and he looked at her in surprise.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Is this how you won all those awards?" Olivia asked with a grin.

"Your husband asked me the very same question." Winter answered with a laugh, "You'd be surprised how brave you can be when you have nothing to lose."

"No, I wouldn't be." Olivia murmured so quietly that he couldn't hear, and then she looked back up at him, "And I think you do have something to lose. A lot to lose."

Winter turned as Riley came trotting into the room and grinned at her. Olivia smiled at them and waved, "Well I am going to go to sleep, but Winter, pull the tapes in the morning, first thing. Promise me that you'll do that, no matter what."

He nodded slowly, feeling a slight unease at the way she phrased the request. "I promise."

Later that night, at close to midnight, Olivia got up out of bed and yanked on some clothes. She clipped her gun to her belt and placed her handcuff's close to it. Stepping out into the hall she caught sight of Riley, sound asleep with her head on Winter's lap. Winter was leaning back in the couch, obviously asleep as well. Olivia smiled at them and then quickly went out the door.

She hurried out in the biting cold air and walked over to her old suburban. Patting the side of it she said, "It's been a long time." Then she climbed up into the driver's seat, the cold leather not helping her already freezing body. Turning on the truck its lights illuminated the interior, and Olivia caught sight of a picture wedged into the glass over the steering display. She pulled it out, gazing at the picture of her and Elliot. Then she slipped it inside her coat pocket and stepped on the accelerator.

When she pulled up into the large houses driveway, Olivia was sure that she saw a light go on inside it. She slowly made her way up the sidewalk and knocked heavily on the door. When it opened, she put a large smile on her face and said, "Doctor Regal. I'm Olivia Stabler, surely you remember me?"

The Doctor seemed quite surprised for a moment, and then smiled back at her. "Of course I remember you, Mrs. Stabler. As I recall, you died two years ago."

"That's right, one of your people shot me." Olivia replied, a gust of wind tossing her hair about her face.

"Yes, I am truly sorry about that. You weren't supposed to die- just your husband." Regal responded, and then he swung his door open wider. "It's cold. Why don't you come inside?"

Olivia didn't hesitate in stepping into the warm house. As Regal shut the door with a soft thud she turned and asked, "Why did you get into the drug smuggling business?"

"Money, of course." He replied, grinning even wider as he stepped around her and sat down at a chair by the kitchen table.

Nodding slowly Olivia glanced around, noticing several photographs of horses on the walls. "Do you show horses, Doctor Regal?"

"I don't ride them, I pay other people to compete for me. I provide them with the best horses and they win for me." Regal said, taking a sip of wine from the glass he had nearby.

"So that's how you smuggle drugs. Every major stop is a horse competition."

"Bingo. You are a sharp one, Detective. If I had known you were this smart before, I wouldn't have been so disappointed you died. I thought your husband was the one who was getting wise to us- that's why I wanted him killed."

"But I got in the way."

"Correct. We were going to finish him off later on, but aren't car accidents handy?" Doctor Regal said with a slight yawn, "And then your daughter started to catch on. We didn't want to move to fast on her though, not with Devon Masters guarding her like a hawk. So we waited until we knew he'd be gone for work, then went in after her. But her special Detective friend showed up before we could find the documents. I was really hoping he'd get himself killed before we went after Riley; after all, he does enough brave, stupid things that it wouldn't be hard. You know, I feel bad I had to kill Doctor Swanson. But he figured it out to. He told me once that you were his favorite patient. He was absolutely devastated after he performed your surgery. Of course it was all a show, as he must have known all along that you were alive. Well there's the story for you."

"I am so glad you told me all of that. You realize I'm going to have to arrest you." Olivia replied, turning to face him.

"Come on now, beautiful, you don't want to stick around? I don't see your arrest warrant." He answered easily, "Why did you come here, all alone?"

"I wanted to get you myself." Olivia said simply.

"I get it. Because I'm the one who ruined your life, right?"

"My life isn't ruined."

"Is it not?" the Doctor asked, a broad grin on his face as he stood and walked over to her.

"No, it's not." Olivia answered, taking a step back.

"You're lying. You lost your husband, wasn't he your life?" the Doctor replied, and Olivia didn't answer. The Doctor grinned even wider as he looked over his shoulder. "Winston, it's about time you got here. Your faulty work has come back to haunt us." Olivia looked behind her and saw a man that she'd never forget.

He looked absolutely stunned and took a step back, staring at her. "Jesus Christ!"

"Now Winston, it's time for you to finish what you started two years ago." Regal said, "Shoot her. And this time, make sure she dies."

Winston slipped his gun out and held it out as his hand shook. Olivia took a step backwards, unsure whether to draw her own weapon.

"Kill her Winston! Do it now!" Regal shrieked, and Olivia heard Winston's gun click. She turned to face him and instantly felt a sharp pain in her back as Regal slammed his fist against her spine. He gave her an extra hard shove so that she went to her knees. Winston stared down at her and felt his finger slip to the trigger.

Winter woke with a start that night, and as he glanced around, he wasn't sure why. It was a little after midnight. Almost immediately his cell phone started to ring. As he glanced at the number that appeared he bit back a look of surprise and flipped it open. "O'Connor… oh hi dad, I suppose you heard about my car then… no… you're what… well she didn't hear it from me, I kept my mouth shut I swear… oh… well that should be fine… just call me when your plane gets in… see you." Winter slowly closed his phone and clipped it to his belt, quite stunned. Riley yawned and stretched, looking up at him.

"What's up?"

"That was my father… he said he's coming to the States for business in a couple days. He wants to see me. Apparently his wife just found out about me and is royally angry that he hasn't kept in contact with me. I haven't seen him since I was like two!" Winter exclaimed, looking quite lost as to what to do.

"It will be fine, Winter." Riley told him with a slight smile. In no less than five minutes she was asleep again. But for some reason Winter couldn't go back to sleep himself, so he stood and got up to get a drink of water. A quiet creaking caught his attention and he turned to see Olivia's door slightly ajar. Winter looked curiously at it and stepped across the room, poking his head inside. Sure enough, her bed was empty. Winter sighed in frustration and mumbled, "And you tell me to be more careful, Olivia Stabler." With that he sprinted to the door, jerking his coat off the hook.

Meanwhile Devon Masters was sitting on his couch, mulling over the letter he had received. The FBI was requesting that he be tested for his health again, and Devon had a gut feeling that he wasn't going to pass again. Intense medication and therapy had gotten him back on his feet for the past year, but already he was starting to feel pain again. He gritted his teeth and took a deep breath. Then his cell phone rang. It was that young detective, Winter O'Connor. Devon shook his head and then picked it up, unable to comprehend what he would need at this hour of the night. After all, Olivia was supposed to be sound asleep recovering from the plane ride. But even as that thought crossed his mind, he was struck by a fear that she wasn't.

Winter impatiently bent over the desk at the hospital, waiting to talk to someone about the security tapes. Finally a middle aged woman walked out, looking to be in a quite a bad mood. "What do you want?"

"I need the security tapes for last month, on the 27th from about eight o clock to midnight." Winter said in what he hoped was an authoritative tone.

"You people already looked at those. And as I recall, you had a subpoena for them." The woman snapped, glaring at him.

Winter smiled broadly at her and replied, "I know. It's just that my ex girlfriend is the attorney we have to go through to get that. And I just don't want to talk to her, you know?"

The woman looked back at him in slight surprise and said, "Well you're going to have to."

"Please, I'm sure someone as pretty as you could get those tapes easily. I mean I'm sure you hear this all the time but you have really beautiful eyes." Winter replied in a beautifully flattering voice complete with perfect accent.

The woman turned bright red and said, "No I don't hear that all the time. And especially not from cops."

"I'm astonished. What's wrong with the people you work with? But I'll tell you what, I understand that you don't want to get the tapes. I'll just have to go and see Mary. She's a good lawyer, even if she did cheat on me." Winter said, turning to walk out.

"Wait! Give me ten minutes and I'll have them for you." The woman said suddenly, and Winter looked back in mock surprise. She grinned at him then waltzed off. Winter grinned back and then rolled his eyes after she was out of sight. He glanced at his watch and hoped that Devon had managed to round up some agents to go find Olivia. She'd been gone nearly an hour.

Winston drew back, his face contorted with indecision. Finally he shrieked, "I can't shoot her again, Mr. Regal! I just can't!" And with that he dropped his gun and stumbled backwards, tripping all over himself in his rush for the door.

Olivia lunged forward to snatch it and Regal leapt after her, landing heavily on her back. Her fingers seized the grip of the gun and she wriggled around, whacking him as hard as she could on the hands. He recoiled enough so that she managed to jerk partway out from under him. Olivia cringed as his hands reached up her shirt, his fingernails digging into her sides as he attempted to bring her back under his control. She gave a mighty pull but couldn't get free. Regal seized the back of her neck in his hand and squeezed. Olivia wrenched over onto her back and struggled to get a good grip on the gun. But Regal hand already tightened his hand over her neck, so that she could still breathe but the pressure caused pain. "And here we are at last, Detective Stabler. Your husband can't save you, your daughter can't save you, and even your FBI friend can't save you. You are going to die alone." Regal muttered into her ear, pulling the gun from her hand. Olivia looked back up at him and smiled slightly. Regal's eyes widened as he glanced down at her left arm, which was pinned between their bodies. In it she gripped her nine millimeter. Regal leapt backwards as fast as he could, he not fast enough. With a deafening crack, the bullet ripped through the air.

The Doctor fell to his knees as he gripped the wound on his shoulder. Olivia quickly clipped her handcuffs onto him and rolled him onto his stomach. Just as she did so, the door burst open and Devon came running in with a couple agents in tow. He looked down at her and exclaimed, "Olivia Stabler! I did not bring you back so you could get yourself killed!" With that he grabbed her by the arms and pulled her to her feet, allowing the other agents to take Regal into custody. Olivia smiled apologetically at him and he grinned back. "Guess who we caught trying to escape? That guy who shot you."

"Good." Olivia said with relief.

Devon immediately went back into scolding mode after he took in her bruises. "I can't believe you did this, Olivia. You could have waited for us to help you. Seriously, this case isn't as important as your life."

"I know Devon. But Regal never would have talked if we had simply taken him into custody. With no direct evidence he would have managed to get off, and probably flee the country. But I got his confession." Olivia explained, and when Devon raised an eyebrow she added, "Plus I wanted to catch the bastard myself."

Devon laughed and then said, "Come on. Let's get you to the hospital." With that he picked her up, much to her displeasure.

"Devon, I can walk!"

"Sure you can. But save your energy." Devon told her with a smile as they stepped outside. Olivia glanced behind them, a sense of shock coming over her. The case that had taken so much from so many people was at last solved.

A/N#2: Okay, next chap will wrap up all the loose ends of everything as far as the case goes, so be patient if you still have questions! Next chap is definitely my personal favorite, and you will soon see why.


	9. Chapter 9

When Devon took Olivia into the hospital, he found Winter gathering up a bag of tapes. He turned and looked at them with relief. "Olivia Stabler, practice what you preach. You do recall that lecture you gave me on being more careful?"

Olivia smiled and said, "Sorry. But thanks for getting help."

"No problem. I also got the tapes." Winter told her proudly, showing the bag.

"Good. The FBI will want those." Olivia said, and Winter turned to see several agents walking in the doors.

By two in the morning, Olivia was finished with her checkup. Fortunately she only had some severe bruising but no broken bones. As she walked back into the waiting room she found Devon sitting in a chair, looking very concerned. "I'm fine." She told him quickly, and he smiled.

"Good. Your daughter's on her way. She didn't sound very happy." Devon said with a laugh, and sure enough, Riley showed up five minutes later.

Storming over to her mother she exclaimed, "Mom! What were you thinking?" Then she took a look at her closer and shrieked, "Did someone try to strangle you?"

"Tried, but failed." Olivia answered. Riley shook her head but gave her mother a hug anyway. Then she turned to glare at Winter.

He grinned and said, "I actually didn't do anything except call Devon and get the tapes tonight. Nothing stupid, I promise."

Riley looked at him suspiciously but smiled after a couple seconds.

With the collapse of the drug ring, Olivia and Devon found themselves in the middle of a media frenzy over the following days. The case was very public, and the press couldn't get enough interviews with them. One interview in particular made Olivia quite popular, perhaps because it discussed how she'd been in witness protection and lost her husband. And it was this one that gained Olivia the admiration and respect of the distant Governor of Colorado.

Two Days Later

"No, you need to sign there." Alex said, quickly setting down her slice of pizza and indicating to the line opposite the one Olivia was signing.

Olivia instantly moved to the other blank and scrawled her signature across it. "Thanks."

"No problem." Alex replied, grinning at her. "It takes a lot of work to come back to life, doesn't it?"

Olivia laughed and nodded. "I can't think of a time a have had to fill out more forms- ever."

"I know it. Oh well. We'll have Olivia Stabler resurrected in no time." Alex said as Olivia dropped the paper into the already quite full box. Alex handed her another slice of pizza and asked, "Do you want another pop?"

"Sure." Olivia replied, leaning back on Alex's couch as she watched her old friend head over to the refrigerator. She sighed as she lightly fingered the bruises on her neck and then pulled her knees to her chest as she finished up the pizza.

"You cold?" Alex questioned, looking in concern at her.

"A little." Olivia admitted, "Florida was so hot. I just am having trouble readjusting to the cold."

"Makes sense." Alex replied with a wide grin. It faded slightly after she turned back from turning the thermostat up and saw Olivia's once again unhappy expression. "Olivia, are you going to be okay? I've got to tell you, I am worried about you."

"Don't worry about me Alex. I'll be fine." Olivia answered, taking the Pepsi from Alex's hand. Alex looked at her sadly and gave her shoulder a squeeze.

"I am so sorry about Elliot. I can't imagine how hard it was for you to find that out when you were in the program." Alex said, her gut aching in sympathy.

Olivia didn't answer for a while and then finally said, "It's just… thinking about him and Riley was the only thing that let me pull through. And after he died, a huge part of the reason why I lived was gone. I know it sounds awful, but I wished for a long time that I would just die."

"Olivia, you must stick around for Riley. That poor girl has had an extremely hard time of it. And she's part Elliot, remember?" Alex said, and then irritably stood as the phone started to ring. "Hang on, Olivia. Samsry's. Oh Captain North, she's right here. You're kidding. Okay, I'll put her on." Alex turned back to Olivia with a fairly stunned expression.

"What is it?" Olivia asked curiously.

"It's your Captain. Apparently the Governor of Colorado is on the other line and wants to speak with you." Alex told her, handing over the phone. Olivia took the phone in great surprise. When she finished talking Alex exclaimed, "Well?"

Olivia clicked the phone back into its receiver and looked over at her. "He bought me a first class ticket to Denver. My plane leaves tomorrow morning."

Alex stared at her and said, "I wonder why he wants to meet you so bad."

"No clue. He just said that nothing would make him happier." Olivia answered, and glanced out the window at the night sky. "Do you think I should go?"

Alex nodded firmly, thinking that maybe the trip would help her friend move past the roadblock she had hit so hard with Elliot's death. "Your paperwork's almost done, so by the time you get back you will be alive and well again."

"Well, I guess I am going to have to pack." Said Olivia with a slight smile.

Olivia arrived back at Riley's apartment shortly afterwards. She had only been there an hour or so when she heard a knock at the door. Hurrying over, she saw that it was Devon. "Hey Devon! What brings you here this late?"

Devon grinned at her and said, "Just taking the FBI health test."

"Really? How'd you do?" Olivia questioned, gesturing for him to step inside.

"I don't know yet. I think okay. But I found this earlier today and wanted to give it to you." Devon said, handing her a videotape. Olivia took it curiously and looked back up at him. "Remember that video camera I bought, oh, like three years after I first met you? How I was so obsessed with videotaping everything?"

Olivia smiled and nodded, "I do. What did you catch on candid camera this time?"

"Just watch." Devon replied, "I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?" With that he gave her a tight hug and then walked out. Olivia stood quite confused for a moment and then walked over to the TV, pushing the tape into the VCR. She sat back on the couch and watched as the old tape started to play. In a horribly painful rush as the first clip began, she remembered…

_"Devon would you put that stupid camera away?" exclaimed Reagan, making a valiant attempt to snatch the video recorder from her husband. He grinned and danced out of her reach, continuing filming around the room._

_Elliot turned from his place on the couch and laughed. "Surely our apartment isn't that interesting?" Just at that moment Olivia chose to walk by the edge of the couch and Elliot smiled even wider, lunging out and seizing her around the waist. Olivia let out a surprised yelp as he pulled her backwards over the armrest.  
_

_"Elliot! What was that for?" exclaimed Olivia, wriggling helplessly with her back against his chest while his arms held her tight around her abdomen. Elliot didn't answer, only kissed the side of her head. Olivia turned slightly and smiled at him, earning her a kiss on the jaw. When she looked up, she noticed that Devon still had the camera running. "Devon, I really doubt that you are going to want this on your camera."_

_"Of course I am, Olivia. You never know when a videotape will come in handy." Devon said, obviously just making an excuse for why he was so camera happy. Olivia rolled her eyes and stood up, as Elliot had finally released her. But once again, she judged to soon. This time he jumped forward and pulled her to the floor. Olivia looked up at him and glared. With a powerful jerk she flipped him over so that he was on his back. _

_Pinning his wrists above his head she told him, "I win." _

_Elliot grinned broadly up at her and said, "I guess so."  
_

_"He guesses so? Olivia, I don't think you tackled him hard enough." commented Reagan as she stepped over them and made another swipe for the camera. Devon turned and ran off, still videotaping. Reagan raced after him, but paused to say, "Goodnight you two." _

And that was where the tape stopped. But Olivia vividly remembered what had happened next…

_Olivia watched them run off, and upon hearing their bedroom door shut, leaned down and kissed Elliot while releasing his wrists. He moved his hands to her neck and pressed her lips harder against his. Slipping her hands inside his shirt Olivia ran her hands up and down his chest. Then she took them slowly out and felt him turn her over onto her back. He kissed her very passionately while sliding one hand up under her polo shirt. Olivia leaned her head back and attempted to control her rapid breathing as she felt him shove her shirt up to her collarbone. Of course, what he was doing to her was not helping, and eventually she took his face in her hands. "Elliot, we probably shouldn't do this in the middle of the living room." She mumbled with a slight smile. He smiled back at her and gently pulled her shirt back down over her. _

_"Sorry. I love you, Olivia." He said, taking her hands. _

_"It's alright. I love you too." She replied, wrapping her arms around him. He gently pulled them up to their feet, though he insisted upon carrying her. Olivia sighed and leaned her head up against him, shutting her eyes to the steady sound of his breathing._

"Mom?" Olivia turned around and saw Riley standing inside, still in her uniform.

"How was work?" Olivia asked, flipping off the TV.

"It was good. I hear that you are going to leave tomorrow." Riley said, sitting down beside her mother.

"I am. But I won't be gone too long, I promise." Olivia said, doing her best to smile.

"Okay. But you'll come back this time, right?" Riley asked, looking very worried.

"Of course." Olivia replied, hugging her daughter.

When Olivia arrived at Denver International Airport the sun was bright in the sky and a fresh layer of snow covered the ground. She looked curiously around as she stepped off the plane and into the main terminal, finding several men already waiting for her. "Olivia Stabler! On behalf of our Governor, welcome back to Colorado! I'm Skye Williamson." one exclaimed, shaking her hand enthusiastically. The others rushed over to greet her and take her bags. Olivia smiled broadly at them all and the man continued, "We'll take you to the Governor Pierce's home, he should be there waiting for you."

As she made her way up the steps to the Governor's house, Olivia readjusted the scarf around her neck and made sure her business slacks were smooth. And in the back of her mind, the question kept nagging at her- why did he want to meet her so badly? Williamson glanced back at her and smiled encouragingly, leading her right inside the house.

When they arrived on the main floor, Williamson led her into a large living room. Several people were already there and were all swarming around one guy in the center. He was an older gentleman with a very kind looking face, and was saying, "No, the House floor isn't opening this morning, that I was aware of." As he finished, he turned to see Williamson standing next to a beautiful woman that he recognized instantly. He quickly made his way over, taking Olivia's hands in his.

"Olivia Stabler! I'm so glad you could come. You don't know how much your visit means to me!" exclaimed Weston Pierce, smiling at her kindly. "You know, the Feds really wanted to do this, but I told them it would be my pleasure."

Olivia looked at the Governor curiously and asked, "What?"

"You'll see, sweetheart. I mainly wanted to bring you here to tell you that you are an inspiration to us all. Rarely do I meet someone who's been through so much adversity and still succeeds in helping the rest of us."

Olivia flushed slightly and said, "Well it wasn't just me. I had a lot of help- Doctor Swanson, Devon Masters, and Detective O'Connor, to name but a few."

"That may be true, Mrs. Stabler, but none the less, it is still my greatest pleasure to meet you. And now that you are here, I must fire my bodyguard. It pains me greatly to do so." Weston said, smiling sadly.

"Why?" Olivia asked, feeling more than a little out of the loop. Weston held out his arm, which she took gently. He led her down the hall to a room that had the door slightly ajar.

"See for yourself." Weston told her, quietly shoving the door open and backing away.

Olivia took a hesitant step forward into the bedroom. The sun was shining brilliantly through the window and she had to adjust her eyes slightly to see. Her heart hammered loudly in her chest as she gazed down at the man sitting on the edge of the bed. He had a slight five o'clock shadow and dark brown hair that accentuated extraordinarily blue eyes. In his arms he held a little baby who couldn't have been more than a month old. And next to him with her hands on his shoulders was a young blonde woman, also looking down at the baby with a broad smile. Olivia took a step back, feeling like she was intruding on something, and backed right into the leg of a table. The loud scraping noise it initiated made both the man and woman look up. Olivia stared and took another step back, her mind screaming several thousand different plans of action at her. But suddenly she felt a hand on the small of her back, and looked back to see Weston Pierce still standing just inside the doorway.

"Olivia, this is my bodyguard." Weston explained, looking down at her. Then he gazed over at the man, who was now standing. "Surely you've introduced yourself to my guest, Olivia Stabler?"

A/N: Okay, I know once again lots of questions! Next chap will answer them all, I promise! Read and review!


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Well, you can thank my wonderful state of Colorado for gifting me with a snow day tomorrow so as to allow me to stay up late and write this chapter! Hope you all enjoy…. And I do believe there is strong PG 13 bordering on R in this chapter.

Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own them. I mean if worse came to worse I told them I'd settle for Chris Meloni, but for some reason they didn't go for it…

The man stood, and as he stepped to be just a few feet away from her, Olivia knew without a doubt who it was. He gently handed the baby over to its mother and stared at Olivia, looking as dumbfounded as she was. Weston grinned at him and said, "Well James, this is the last time I pick a bodyguard from the witness protection program. It's too hard to have to let you go. Or rather, I'll miss having you around, Elliot Stabler." Elliot hadn't budged, and only stared at Olivia. He took another step forward, looking her up and down as if he wasn't sure if she was for real. "Elliot, Olivia was in the program to. She just solved your last case, so the Feds told me that you had completed the program. I wanted to be able to tell you, to thank you for all that you've done for me. I won't forget it."

Elliot glanced at him briefly and smiled slightly. Then he looked back at Olivia and said softly, "I thought I'd lost you."

"I thought the same about you." Olivia replied, a slow tear dripping down her face. But she didn't step any closer, not sure where she fit into his life anymore. Her gaze trailed to the woman standing beside him with the small baby in her arms.

She seemed to notice Olivia's glance and smiled reassuringly. "Well, Ja- Elliot. Aurora and I will miss you. You've been a great help to my father and Aurora sure liked it when you babysat her for my husband and I."

And with that tiny bit of reassurance Olivia jumped forward, leaping into Elliot's arms. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and her legs around his waist. Elliot held her lower back and pressed his cheek against hers. He could feel her hot tears dripping down her face and he whispered gently in her ear, "I never forgot you."

Olivia pulled away slightly and replied, "I didn't forget you either." Elliot smiled at her, his bright blue eyes radiating the same intense passion for her that they had years ago. Olivia leaned down and kissed him, contained in it two years worth of anguish and the pain of separation along with renewed hope for the future. Elliot slowly let her down from his arms so that he could run his hands through her long hair. When they finally came apart Olivia smiled broadly at him, though she was still crying. "I remember after I got shot that you were telling me about going skiing. Well, we're in Colorado now, so I was thinking, maybe we could go?"

Elliot nodded slowly, unable to stop a tear from leaking out of his eye as pulled her to him in a tight hug. Olivia completely relaxed against him, burying her face into his shirt. As Elliot gently stroked her back, he looked over at Weston, who was wiping his eyes. Weston noticed his look and quickly regained his composure, saying, "I saw her on an interview for the news, and they showed a picture of her husband- and it was you. Plus I could tell from the way she talked about you that she was your wife- because you talked about her in the exact same way." When Olivia finally pulled away, she turned to Weston and smiled gratefully. "You know I'm glad you like to ski, because I got you both a five day pass to our finest ski resort." he told them, walking over and handing Olivia two little folders with the resorts emblem on the front.

"Thanks." Said Olivia, surprising him by giving him a brief hug.

"Your welcome, sweetheart. Your husband saved my life you know- shoved me out of the way of a bullet and very narrowly missed getting hit himself. It took a lot of courage."

Elliot wrapped his arm around Olivia's waist tighter and replied, "Yes well, I got it from her."

That evening Elliot and Olivia retired to their bedroom almost immediately upon their arrival at the resort. Elliot changed into his Denver Police Department shirt that a new friend of his had gotten for him along with a pair of sleep pants. Olivia took a little while longer to get into her pajamas, and so Elliot wandered around their condo for a bit. It had proved to be quite the suite- two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room complete with plasma screen TV, dining room, and a kitchen. The balcony overlooked the ski slopes and directly below it was their own personal hot tub. After he grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator he walked back into the bedroom to find Olivia just emerging from the adjoining bath. He smiled at her, unable to get over how pretty she looked in a too large NYPD shirt and loose pair of pajama pants. Olivia trotted over to him and then curled herself up under the covers. "Cold?" Elliot questioned, slipping down beside her.

"Yes." admitted Olivia with a laugh as she scooted over next to him. He put his arms around her and protectively draped his leg over hers.

"You have no idea how much I've missed you." He told her, running a hand through her hair. Olivia smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, breathing lightly against his chest.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't tell you I was alive. But they told me that if I tried then you and Riley could get killed. I couldn't have lived with knowing that I caused the people I love the most to die." Olivia replied, rubbing the back of his shoulders lightly.

Elliot suddenly reached out and traced a hand across her neck over the slowly fading bruises. She involuntarily flinched, and then mentally kicked herself for getting so afraid. "It's okay. You're alright now." Elliot said gently, moving his hand to the small of her back. Olivia arched her back as his cool hand met her skin and she pressed harder against him. When she met his eyes again she knew he was concerned and asking her permission. With a smile followed by a fervent kiss she gave it to him. As she gently nibbled on his lower lip he gripped the edges of her shirt and pulled it over her head. Olivia felt him push her softly onto her back as he shifted to place a hand on her abdomen. He ran his hand back and forth, stopping always at the spot where the scar from her bullet wound was. Then he ran his hand up her side, feeling the healing scratches there. He glanced down, and saw that she had some deep bruising there as well. So he moved his hands away and slipped his thumbs over the top of her pants, slipping them off her legs.

Olivia felt him run his hand down the top of her thighs and then back up the inside of them. As she shivered slightly and pushed against him as he slipped inside her, Elliot kissed her cheek gently and then moved down below her jaw. She could feel her spine tingling as she felt his breath hot against her and the kisses he placed across her neck. She shut her eyes in contentment and sighed deeply as he brought his hand back to her thigh, and then to her side. When he kissed her again, he moved so that he was completely on top of her and quickly took off his shirt. Olivia smiled at him as she hooked her fingers around the top of his pants and pulled.

A couple hours later Elliot lay propped up on his elbows over top of Olivia as she gave him a very passionate yet exhausted kiss. As soon as she pulled away he rolled off and draped an arm over her waist. "So what was your job in the program?" he asked, running his hand across her jaw.

Olivia smiled and said, "I was a security guard at the local marina. Mostly I security guarded myself- the uniform they gave me alone was enough to trigger unsavory thoughts from drunken yachtsmen."

Elliot frowned and asked, "Did they ever touch you?"

"No. The most dangerous thing I ever had to do was hold the dock lines of a boat while its totally smashed owner tried to take it out. And believe me, it wasn't that hard."

Elliot smiled slightly and asked, "So, this uniform…"

"Mini skirt with an extremely low cut white polo shirt." Olivia replied, giving him a kiss on the cheek. Elliot tilted his head to catch her lips in his and traced his hands along her back.

"I had to go into the program after I was run off the road by another driver. Luckily a tree stopped the cars descent, and I escaped unharmed. But when the cops got there, they had the Feds with them. They told me they knew other driver to be one of the drug ring's, and that I had to go right away. That way, they would think I had gotten killed in the wreck, and wouldn't come after Riley. I felt so bad leaving her. It was awful after we thought you died." Elliot said, his eyes darkening slightly in sadness.

"She'll be okay now. Though I think she'll have a heart attack when we call her and tell her." Olivia answered.

"No, just tell her you got here safely and have a surprise for her when you get back. I'd rather tell her in person." Elliot told her.

"You were aware that she's a cop now?" Olivia asked, and Elliot abruptly stopped stroking her back.

"What?"

"I found out after my 'husband' in the program bought me my laptop. I looked up all sorts of stuff about her online. Graduated second in her class, and was accepted to Yale, Princeton, and Stanford. But she took the police exam instead, and has been a cop for about seven months now." Olivia said, and Elliot shook his head.

"That girl. She could have been anything, but she had to choose a dangerous job. So now I have three women to worry about constantly." Elliot sighed, "Between you, Kathleen, and Riley, it's a wonder I haven't died yet from worry."

Olivia smiled and said, "It's alright Elliot. Kathleen and Riley have a great dad, I'm sure they inherited at least some of your skill."

Elliot grinned but shook his head, "Riley's all you, Olivia."

"Since we're on the topic of Riley, just so you don't go through the roof when we get home, she's dating Winter O'Connor."

Elliot's eyes widened and asked, "Winter O'Connor as in my old partner? As in Mr. Eleven years older than my daughter Winter?"

Olivia nodded and said, "Don't worry. She knows how to take care of herself." Elliot didn't look so convinced and mumbled something incoherent but to the effect of he would have to give Winter a talking to. Olivia laughed and tucked herself up closer to Elliot, revealing in the feel of him against her after such a long time.

The next morning Olivia woke up first and walked off into the kitchen to call her daughter. Riley sounded very pleased to hear from her, and was very glad that she was having a good time. As she hung up Elliot came walking out, yawning widely. "What, are you tired?" Olivia asked in mock surprise. Elliot grinned and seized her wrists, placing her hands on his shoulders.

"Okay, so are you ready to see my amazing skiing talent?" he asked.

"Talent is not a word I would use to describe you on the slopes." Olivia replied, pulling out of his grasp and walking away.

Elliot bounced after her, catching her around the waist from behind. "Excuse me, Detective?"

"You heard me. Now I have to take a shower before breakfast gets here." Olivia replied with a wide grin.

Elliot immediately let go of her waist. "Am I invited?" he pleaded.

Olivia rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand, towing him behind her.

"Elliot! The foods here! You have to let me out!" exclaimed Olivia a half hour later, attempting to free herself from Elliot's grasp. He settled for giving her one last kiss and then let her race out of the shower and throw on a bathrobe. When he arrived in the kitchen he found Olivia taking a huge bag of food out into the living room.

"Dear lord, Olivia, enough food there?" he asked, plopping down beside her on the couch.

"I have hardly eaten in two years. Food just lost its appeal. Maybe it was because I had no one to share it with." Olivia said with a smile. Then she took a bite off of a croissant and held it out for Elliot. He took it and grinned at her.

After they finished breakfast, Olivia lay with her head in Elliot's lap as he absentmindedly ran his hands through her hair. Elliot watched her sides rise and fall in a steady cadence, a constant reminder of the miracle he had right before him. "You know, I never got a chance to thank you for saving my life." He said quietly, and Olivia shifted so that she could look up at him.

"You don't have to thank me. I would do it again in a heartbeat." replied Olivia, running her hand down his cheek.

Elliot smiled and said, "No, really. Thanks Liv. For everything."

A/N #2: Okay, next chapter is the last one! Please read and review!


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Sorry it took so long to get this up! I wanted to make sure it was a good conclusion for all three stories! PLEASE R&R!

That evening when they arrived back from skiing Elliot flopped onto the couch and shut his eyes. "What Elliot, you tired from showing your talent on the slopes?" Olivia questioned, her dark brown eyes glinting in the light from the fire. Elliot halfway opened his eyes and did his best to glare at her. Olivia quickly took off her jacket and crawled over to lie on top of him. Elliot opened his eyes and placed his hands on her hips gently rubbing his thumbs across her skin. Olivia sighed and laid her head against his chest. "This whole thing has been amazing." she mumbled, her fingers idly tracing across his palm. Elliot closed his hand over hers and drew it to his lips, kissing it tenderly before laying it back down on his chest.

"Tell me about it. When the Doctors told me you died on the table, I thought my life was over. I have to admit, as much as I disapprove of the age difference between Riley and Winter O'Connor, he's the probably the only reason I made it home some nights. I remember this one time he got really angry with me because I was so drunk that I couldn't stand and he pried the beer bottle from my hands, yanked me out of my chair, and dragged me out of the bar. And I mean drag- he had me by the arms and I was flopped on my side. He then proceeded to give me an hour long lecture while I sat in his car and sobered up before he took me home." Elliot replied, half smiling at the memory.

Olivia shook her head and said, "And what was this lecture about?"

"Oh just how I had to set an example for my daughter and that I did no good for her going out drinking all the time. Those types of things. And he was right."

Olivia eased herself up and looked down at him. "I'm so sorry, El. I never wanted to hurt you."

Elliot looked back up at her and smiled, "It's not your fault Liv." He reached up and put his hand on the back of her neck, pulling her down closer to him. "We're going to be alright now." Olivia smiled back and pressed her lips to his, the fire warm on her back. Elliot seemed reluctant to let her go as she slowly pulled away.

"You know, I was so worried that the Governor's daughter was your wife. I was so afraid that I'd lose you again." Olivia said quietly, rubbing her hand across his abdomen.

"I promised you the night that you got shot that you'd never lose me. And you never did, and never will." Elliot told her, his blue eyes sincere and passionate.

Olivia smiled and kissed his neck before lying back down and shutting her eyes. He wrapped his arms around her and lightly traced the soft skin of her back with one hand. His other hand ran through her long hair and gently rubbed the back of her neck.

The days at the resort went by quickly, and by the time they were on a plane back home, both Olivia and Elliot were refreshed in body and spirit. The flight was quite uneventful and pleasant, and when they touched down in New York, Elliot felt his heart jump happily. He was home at last.

Olivia got off the plane first, as she wanted to give Riley at least some indication as to the nature of the surprise. As she stepped out into the terminal, she immediately saw her daughter standing with Winter. And just behind them were Devon and his whole family. Riley jumped forward and flung her arms around her mother. "How was it?"

"It was a great trip." Olivia replied, smiling at her as she pulled away.

Winter gave her an especially heart melting smile and said, "Welcome back, Mrs. Stabler."

"And how is my dear old state doing?" questioned Devon, stepping forward and hugging Olivia tightly.

"Great." replied Olivia with a wide grin, and Devon seemed to do a slight double take.

"You're smiling. And it's actually lighting up your eyes. Is it possible that you are happy?" He said curiously, his FBI trained observation skills kicking in.

Olivia laughed and told him, "I am."

Then she looked back and saw Reagan smiling broadly at her, holding a small child in her arms. "Hey Olivia. This is Olivia." Olivia stepped forward and looked down at the cute little girl, who flung her arms up and down happily as she saw Olivia.

"She is adorable." Olivia said, and then looked over at the twins. Jonathan and Maria both waved at her, though they abruptly stopped and stared. Olivia glanced over her shoulder and saw Elliot emerging from the gate. "Oh, by the way. I brought someone home. I think you know him."

Riley froze and whipped around. "Dad?" she whispered, her eyes wide.

Elliot smiled back at her and said, "Your mother wasn't the only one thrown in witness protection."

Riley let out a scream of delight and jumped up into his arms, giving him a tight hug. When she finally released him, Elliot caught sight of Devon, who looked absolutely dumbfounded. Winter stood with a surprised expression, though he succeeded in controlling it by grinning.

"I'm glad your back, Elliot. Though I am a little distressed at how I was in the FBI and never got the slightest wind that either of you were alive." Devon said, stepping forward and shaking Elliot's hand.

Elliot laughed and then asked, "What do you mean, that you were in the FBI? Aren't you still?"

"I didn't pass the health test. They said traveling around constantly was just too hard on me, so gave me mandatory retirement. Again." Devon said, his voice sounding tired and beaten.

"I'm sorry." Elliot replied, knowing that Devon had truly loved his job.

Devon smiled and said, "Don't even worry about it. My best friends have come back. Plus, I have a job application in somewhere else, and I think they'll hire me."

"Where?"

Devon just smiled wider and said, "Come on, let's get out of this airport."

One Month Later

The annual NYPD Christmas party was a rather special occasion for Elliot and Olivia, as it would be the first they had attended in a couple years, and as they were going to meet several of their old friends again. Alex was among the first to greet them, as she had seen Elliot only once since his return. Her husband greeted Elliot enthusiastically, welcoming him back home. Alex hugged Olivia tightly and told her for the thousandth time how happy she was that Elliot was back. As Alex and Henry started to make their way over to say hi to Riley and Winter, Olivia turned and smiled at a familiar voice. "Well Benson and Stabler, it looks like the dynamic duo can overcome just about anything." Munch told them, looking rather amused.

Elliot smiled at him and asked, "How's life being the Captain of homicide?"

Munch shrugged and replied, "It's alright. I do miss the old days though- you, Olivia, Fin and I all working on cases to all hours of the night."

"I do too." Answered Elliot softly.

After a few moments Munch glanced over where he saw Winter standing with a protective arm around Riley's waist. He laughed lightly and asked, "So how do you feel about your baby dating a guy eleven years older?"

Elliot winced slightly and said, "Well if she's happy, I guess I can handle it."

"I am sure he's happy at least. He's liked her for years. You know, I can always tell when he comes into the precinct, because all the women go flocking over to him. He's a first class chick magnet that guy- but he never showed the slightest interest in any of them. Except Riley. Speaking of her, I hear she's going back to school?"

Elliot smiled and nodded, "She reapplied to Yale, and they accepted her again."

Munch nodded happily, and then heard someone step up behind him. HE turned and grinned broadly, "Winter, we were just talking about you!"

Winter smiled and said, "I hope it was good."

"Oh very. We were discussing your chick magnetism."

Winter rolled his eyes and flushed slightly, "I really don't know why. Seriously, back in school in Ireland I was the biggest dork of my class."

"You?" questioned Olivia with a smile.

Winter laughed and nodded.

"Hey how come I wasn't invited to join your little group?" exclaimed Devon, trotting over.

Olivia and Elliot looked at him in surprise, and Devon just grinned. "Didn't I tell you? That other job I applied for was with you guys. I am now a member of the NYPD. They figured I had enough FBI experience to just get some brief training in police procedure. Plus I took the police exam a couple months ago, just in case, and did quite well on it."

They both stared at him in stunned silence for a moment, before Olivia gave him a tight hug. "You'll like it, Devon. I am so happy for you."

Devon smiled and replied, "I am happy for you guys. I never thought we'd all be together again, and here we are."

"Here we are." repeated Elliot quietly as he glanced around at the large crowd around them. The ever cynical Munch who was chatting idly with another cop about some conspiracy; Fin had wandered over and was excitedly greeting them all; the two ADA's Casey and Alex; Devon and Reagan happily telling Winter about Devon's new job; and Riley, looking the happiest that she had in years. Elliot leaned over and tightened his arm around Olivia's waist.

Olivia laid her head against his shoulder, taking in a deep breath. Elliot looked down at her and asked, "You doing okay?"

"Never better." replied Olivia with a bright smile.

Munch suddenly got a funny look on his face and turned back to Winter. "So, Mr. O'Connor, are we going to be treated to your wonderful karaoke this year?"

Winter grinned and nodded. "Of course."

Elliot and Olivia glanced at each other in confusion, and Munch quickly informed them, "Winter here has been singing karaoke for the past couple years at this party. Tonight you are lucky enough to see it." When this did little to change Elliot and Olivia's expressions Munch just smiled wider and asked Winter, "What are you singing this year?"

"Time of Your Life." Winter said, "I thought that it would be quite appropriate."

And sure enough, in less than an hour, Winter was persuaded to sing. Astonishingly, he was an excellent singer- and the song was indeed extremely fitting for the occasion. Olivia put her arms around Elliot's neck and he placed his on her hips.

**_Another turning point; a fork stuck in the road, time grabs you by the wrist; directs you where to go.  
So make the best of this test and don't ask why.  
It's not a question but a lesson learned in time.  
It's something unpredictable but in the end it's right.  
I hope you had the time of your life._**

**_  
So take the photographs and still frames in your mind.  
Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time.  
Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial.  
For what it's worth, it was worth all the while.  
_**

**_It's something unpredictable but in the end it's right. _**

**_I hope you had the time of your life._**

Olivia sighed as Elliot pressed his forehead against hers, listening to the lyrics of the song. In the very last lines of the song, Olivia looked up at Elliot and said, "You know, it was truly the time of my life. Nothing compares to what I have experienced with you, Elliot."

Elliot raised her chin to look at him and told her, "I don't know where I would be if there hadn't been you. I love you so much."

"I love you too." Olivia replied, pulling him down to her in a deep kiss. As she felt him pull her closer she heard the last quiet strains of the song die out. When they parted, they saw Winter take a bow and grin over at them. He quickly trotted off the stage and walked over. "You have a very nice voice, Winter. Is there anything you can't do?" Olivia asked with a grin.

"Oh I can't do loads of stuff. But I just wanted you to know, I think that everyone has had an amazing experience with this case. Truly, I can't remember a time when the resolution of a case actually gave me a good amount of closure. But this one… it was so personal and now the chips are falling where they should. It's been a pleasure to work with you."

Elliot smiled at him and said, "You're a good guy, Mr. O'Connor." Winter looked surprised and gratefully grinned back.

Soon after was the trial of Doctor Regal. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, and his assistant, Winston Perry, got 25 to life. Elliot and Olivia left court quite satisfied, and went back to the precinct. Olivia picked up her old notebooks and legal pads, along with the file containing photos of her being taken out of the warehouse and then presumed dead. She gave one last look at them before Elliot placed the lid on the box and sealed it up.

Case closed.

**THE END**

A/N #2: Well, that's the end of the trilogy! I considered writing another, but decided that I dragged poor El and Liv through enough mud in these three that I couldn't handle doing it in a fourth! However, I am starting another new story about them….

PLEASE let me know what you think of this ending!


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